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COL.  JOHN    TRUMBULL.   FROM    THE    MARBLE  BUST 
IN    THE    YALE    ART  GALLERY. 


The  Pioneers  of  Art  in  America. 


ART 


AND 


ARTISTS  IN  CONNECTICUT. 


BOSTON  : 

LEE    AND    SHEPARD,  PUBLISHERS. 
NEW  YORK: 
CHARLES  T.  DILLINGHAM. 

1879. 


BY 


H.   W.  FRENCH. 


Copyright,  1878, 

H.  W.  FRENCH. 


©etitcatioti. 


There  is  a  custom,  a  very  good  and  appropriate  custom,  of  honoring  heroes 
with  laudations  of  one  kind  or  another,  that  shall  to  some  extent  indicate  their 
noble  deeds.  Certain  considerations  entitle  Connecticut  to  the  position  of  a 
heroine  among  her  sister  States.  As  such  this  tribute  is  offered,  in  the  belief 
that  a  record  of  her  art-life  will  be  to  her  glory;  and  is  respectfully  dedicated 
to  the  people  of  the  State. 


INTRODUCTION. 


^HE  history  of  the  fine  arts  in  a  single  State,  at  first  thought,  would  appear  either 


JL  thoroughly  insignificant,  or  so  closely  alhed  to  the  art-life  of  other  States  as  to 
be  of  no  interest  if  isolated  and  prepared  without  reference  to  those  others.  Never- 
theless, the  more  careful  the  study  bestowed  upon  the  subject,  the  more  evident  it 
will  become  that  there  may  be  exceptions.  One  intimate  with  the  history  of  the 
fine  arts  in  Connecticut  will  be  readily  convinced  that  this  State  presents,  to  the 
lover  of  art,  a  romance  richly  meriting  an  individual  chronicle. 

The  subject  is  one  which  has  been  much  neglected  throughout  the  States,  even 
by  those  who  derive  the  most  benefit  and  pleasure  from  the  productions  of  art. 
This  lack  of  interest  is  due  in  great  part  to  ignorance  and  prejudice,  which  the  good 
public  will  gladly  do  away  with  if  it  may  be  made  apparent,  together  with  a  means  of 
relief.  We  take  a  national  pride  in  the  perfection  of  that  which  comes  in  competi- 
tion with  the  productions  of  Europe.  Strangely,  in  the  arts  of  painting  and  sculp- 
ture, that  most  of  all  display  the  direct  power  of  man's  mind  and  hand,  there  is  less 
interest  and  enthusiasm  on  the  part  of  the  pubhc  than  in  any  other  production. 
Doubtless  art  depends  upon  justice  for  success.  But  the  pubhc  is  not  always  just. 
Not  that  it  is  in  the  heart  of  man  to  abuse  willingly,  but  that  unintentionally  many 
hinderances  are  placed  in  the  way  of  art-progress,  and  much  injustice  done.  The 
most  comprehensive  view  of  a  landscape,  a  day,  or  a  lifetime,  is  a  retrospective 
view. 

If  the  signs  of  the  times  be  true,  that  the  love  of  art  is  waxing  strong  in  the  States, 
a  glance  backward,  before  too  many  steps  are  taken,  may  be  of  great  value  in  secur- 
ing a  progress  which  shall  be  warned  by  the  failures  of  the  past,  advised  by  the  experi- 
ments, encouraged  and  directed  by  the  successes.  We  can  more  easily  recognize 
and  denounce  injustice  and  prejudice  when  we  see  them  in  history  than  when  they 
become  a  part  of  daily  life  and  common  custom.  Cause  and  effect  are  then  more 
clearly  defined  in  their  relationship.  Just  now  is  a  time  of  unusual  enthusiasm,  a 
season  of  art-revival,  such  as  in  former  days  preluded  the  advent  of  men  hke  Apelles 
and  Angelo.  There  will  be  grand  results  in  the  United  States  outgrowing  from  this  ; 
and  that  State  to  set  herself  most  systematically  and  emphatically  to  the  task  of 
taking  the  tide  at  its  full  flood  will  be  the  first  to  be  led  on  to  fortune. 


V 


vi 


Introduction, 


A  local  history  of  art,  which,  as  in  the  case  of  Connecticut,  covers  but  little  over 
a  century,  cannot  well  be  more  or  less  than  a  biographical  record  of  artists  who  have 
borne  their  part.  Upon  this  conclusion  such  sketches  have  been  carefully  prepared. 
A  few  important  facts  are  culled  from  former  pubhcations ;  but  it  has  been  possible 
to  gather  many  personal  recollections  concerning  almost  every  artist,  and  the  greater 
part  of  each  history  given  hereafter  will  be  formed  from  entirely  new  matter.  Every 
living  artist  has  been  consulted^  either  personally  or  by  letter ;  the  former  being  the 
case  with  a  very  large  majority.  If  any  thing  in  the  coming  papers  shall  prove  of 
value,  it  is  due  to  the  fact  that  hardly  an  artist  who  has  been  consulted  has  expressed 
an  unwillingness  to  assist  in  the  preparation  of  the  work  j  and,  without  exception, 
those  whose  names  do  most  honor  the  history  of  art  in  Connecticut  have  been  in 
equal  ratio  most  ready  to  facihtate  the  collection  of  information.  In  a  great  variety 
of  ways,  from  the  abundant  resources  thrown  open  by  artists  and  their  friends,  the 
facts,  criticisms,  and  details  have  been  obtained. 

To  make  a  complete  history  of  the  art,  it  has  appeared  that  others  than  simply 
natives  of  the  State  should  be  included,  —  such,  for  instance,  as,  having  identified 
themselves  with  the  State,  either  by  long  residence,  by  holding  important  positions 
as  instructors  in  art,  or  by  having  produced  in  the  State  pictures  of  pre-eminent 
merit,  have  obviously  imparted  an  important  influence. 

While,  among  the  practitioners  in  the  arts  of  design,  architects  and  engravers  are 
as  justly  included  as  sculptors  and  painters,  the  large  number  of  the  latter  two  must 
exclude  for  the  present  the  former :  although,  of  the  former,  engravers  do  most 
emphatically  belong  to  Connecticut ;  for  in  the  history  they  form  such  an  important 
part,  that,  instead  of  neglect,  they  demand  especial  and  individual  attention.  This 
they  shall  receive  in  a  more  appropriate  manner  hereafter.  For  the  present,  painters 
and  sculptors  alone  form  the  topic  of  investigation. 

Among  other  difficulties,  a  great  one  has  appeared  in  the  absolute  impossibility  of 
grading  the  detailed  accounts  in  any  degree  in  accordance  with  the  merits  of  the 
subjects  in  hand.  The  sketches  must  vary  in  length  simply  as  matter  of  interest 
has  been  obtained  bearing  no  relation  whatever  to  the  position  of  the  artist  in 
the  art. 

In  this  connection  it  is  most  seriously  regretted  that  throughout  the  State  many 
ladies,  undeniably  superior  artists,  with  knowledge,  talent,  and  possibilities  rarely 
combined,  have  insisted  upon  holding  themselves  aloof  from  art  as  a  profession, 
embracing  it  in  the  studio,  rebuking  it  in  the  street.  That  the  right  to  chronicle 
their  achievements  is  thus  withheld  is  unfortunate.  That  the  influence,  inspiration, 
and  enthusiasm  with  which  proficient  and  intelligent  ladies,  in  large  force,  might 
surround  the  art-life  of  the  State,  are  refused,  is  more  than  unfortunate.  It  is  a  grave 
question,  whether  the  ability  of  the  artist,  having  been  bestowed,  is  rightfully  wrapped 
in  a  napkin,  locked  up  in  a  private  studio  for  the  sole  pleasure  and  benefit  of  a  circle 
of  friends.  Those  who  can  do  the  most  for  art  are  eminently  those  who  have  not 
the  grinding  necessity  for  bread  as  the  principal  pigment  upon  every  palette.  Yet 
those  who  can,  free-handed,  labor  for  glory,  are  oftener  those  who  shrink  into  seclu- 
sion, letting  the  art  go  its  way,  reliant  upon  others  less  able,  more  willing,  lor  support, 


Introduction. 


vu 


so  long  as  they  receive  the  marvellous  recreation  and  enchantment  in  its  rare  society. 
There  is  also  a  certain  restraint  naturally  placed  on  any  endeavor  to  speak  plainly 
of  the  living.  Nevertheless^  there  being  no  incentive  or  desire  either  to  flatter  or 
defame  the  living  or  the  dead,  it  must  be  suflicient  explanation  to  state  that  those 
of  the  present  will  be  regarded  precisely  as  those  of  the  past,  and  what  is  said  be 
said  with  no  more  consideration  that  it  will  ever  be  read  by  the  subject  of  the  bio- 
graphy than  if  the  last  item  of  the  record  were  taken  from  an  inscription  on  a  marble 
slab. 

A  timely  suggestion  is  contained  in  Whittier's  lines  :  — 

"  Of  all  sad  words  of  tongue  or  pen, 
The  saddest  are  these,  '  It  might  have  been.' " 

This  thought  is  often,  one  might  almost  say  always,  present  in  one  shape  or 
another  with  the  artist  of  sufficient  merit  to  understand  his  own  faults,  and  is  with 
much  truth  attributed  in  some  way  to  the  lack  of  public  sympathy.  In  view  of  this 
oftener  just  than  unjust  charge,  it  is  but  common  charity  that  we  base  our  estimates, 
especially  in  the  case  of  artists  who  are  dead,  upon  their  excellences  rather  than 
their  deficiencies.  Such  excellences  it  will  - be  the  aim  of  these  papers  to  detect, 
avoiding  more  than  a  mention  of  weaker  points.  The  chief  desire  will  be,  neither  to 
criticise,  nor  to  fix  any  estimate  of  individual  or  comparative  ability,  but,  in  presenting 
all  facts  of  interest  that  can  be  gathered  concerning  the  art-Hfe  of  each  devotee,  to 
trust  to  the  principle,  that  acquainting  the  public  with  the  man  may  assist  in  the 
forming  of  individual  criticisms  and  estimates  that  shall  be  of  value  not  only  for  the 
past,  but  in  the  future.  Therefore  these  papers,  taking  up  the  artist  only  as  a  part  of 
art,  shall  make  no  pretensions  whatsoever  to  any  thing  more.  Nor  shall  the  popular 
comparisons  be  instituted  between  the  work  of  Connecticut  artists  and  that  of  Euro- 
pean masters,  either  contemporary  artists  or  of  ages  past,  or  with  the  work  of  other 
American  artists.  Such  comparisons  are  entertaining ;  when  favorable,  flattering ; 
when  unfavorable,  energizing,  perhaps.  But,  on  the  whole,  they  are  irrelevant ;  and 
as,  with  possibly  one  branch  excepted,  the  highest  praise  bestowable  upon  American 
art  is  that  it  approximates  the  work  of  certain  old  masters,  jealousy  tempts  the  subject 
into  silence,  while  other  methods  are  tested  to  raise  the  standard  of  art  in  our  own 
dear  land,  till  that  time  shall  come,  of  which  the  hopeful  prophets  already  detect 
betokenings,  when  America  may  beckon  Europe,  old  masters  and  new,  into  realms 
unexplored  by  them,  and  an  originality  that  shall  be  theirs  to  copy  instead  of  ours  to 
equal.  The  facts  presented  shall  be  only  those  concerning  the  artists  as  artists  of 
Connecticut,  and  of  which  no  known  doubt  exists.  The  pride  and  patriotism  of  the 
people  of  Connecticut  must  be  depended  upon,  who,  knowing  the  artist,  or  of  him, 
and  having  seen  his  work,  or  at  least  being  able  to  see  it  for  themselves,  shall  appre- 
ciate a  closer  view  of  the  homespun  web  that  surrounds  him  ;  and  who,  knowing  him 
better,  and  his  work  better,  shall  perchance  love  him  more,  and  prize  his  work  with 
a  more  profitable  appreciation.  If  this  end  be  reached,  a  great  success  wifl  have  been 
gained. 

There  are  several  important  galleries  of  art  in  the  State,  of  both  public  and  pri- 


0" 


viii  Introduction. 

vate  collection.  It  was  an  original  intention  to  include  a  detailed  account  of  them ; 
but  the  fact  that  most  of  the  important  pictures,  not  of  foreign  origin,  embraced 
by  them,  will  appear  in  the  course  of  the  biographies,  urges  the  abandonment  of  the 
idea.  Brief  historical  sketches  of  the  two  best  known  collections,  in  the  Yale  Art 
Building  and  the  Wadsworth  Athenaeum,  will  be  alone  inserted. 


CONTENTS. 


MISCELLANEOUS. 

PAGE 

Introduction  .   v 

Preamble   i 

Outline  of  the  Growth  of  Art   4 

History  of  the  Yale  Art  Gallery   7 

History  of  the  Wadsworth  Art  Gallery   9 

History  of  the  Art-Schools  of  Connecticut   ii 

Water-Color  Painting   i6 

Education  in  Art   i8 

The  True  Artist  and  his  Work      .   23 

FEMALE  ARTISTS. 

Bidwell,  Miss  Mary  W.    .  .      .  ^   165 

BiDWELL,  Mrs.  A.  H.      .      .      .      .      .   166 

Catlin,  Miss  Flora       .   .  .167 

Gilbert,  Miss  Sarah  B   167 

Griswold,  Miss  Carrie   167 

Hall,  Miss  Anne   167 

Jerome,  Mrs.  E.  G   169 

Johnson,  Mrs.  M.  A   169 

Lanman,  Miss  A.  T.   170 

Leffingwell,  Miss  Sarah   170 

Loop,  Mrs.  H.  A.    .      .      .   170 

Marsh,  Miss  A.  E   171 

McLean,  Miss  C.  E.   171 

Parmely,  Miss  Irene  E.   171 

PoMEROY,  Miss  Ellen  M.      .   171 

Porter,  Mrs.  S.  C   172 

Pierson,  Mrs.  L.  J.   173 


ix 


X 


Contents. 


PACK 

Smith,  Misses  S.  J.  and  E.  L   173 

Stocking,  Mrs.  L.  Lyman   174 

Tiffany,  Miss  M.  A   174 

Ward,  the  Misses   174 

Warner,  Mrs.  L.  G   175 

Washburn,  Mrs.,  and  Mrs.  Badge   175 

Watson,  Miss  Minnie   17^ 

Weston,  Mrs.  Mary   17^ 

Wood,  Miss  E   176 

PAINTERS  AND  SCULPTORS. 

Akers,  Benjamin  {Sculptor)    .   125 

Akers,  Charles  {Sculptor)   146 

Alexander,  Francis   62 

Augur,  Hezekiah  {Sculptor)   47 

Baker,  George  A   109 

Baldwin,  George   162 

Bartholomew,  E.  S.  {Sculptor)   112 

Bartlett,  T.  H.  {Sculptor)   145 

Bellows,  Albert  F   138 

Benson,  Eugene  c   149 

Blackburn,  J.  B   29 

Bottume,  G.  F   136 

Brandegee,  R.  B   158 

Bristol,  J.  B  .127 

Brownell,  C.  D.  W   118 

Bryant,  Henry   79 

Bunce,  William  Gedney   148 

Burleigh,  C.  C,  Jun   157 

BuscH,  Julius  T   no 

Candee,  G.  E   146 

Cardelli,  Georgio   49 

Catlin,  George   54 

Cheney,  Seth  W   75 

Church,  F.  E   127 

CoE,  Benjamin  H   61 

Cole,  Thomas   63 

Coles,  John   43 

CoLYER,  Vincent   123 

CoNRADS,  Carl   162 


Contents,  xi 

PAGE 

Crocker,  J.  Denison   121 

cummings,  t.  s   67 

Curtis,  Calvin   120 

CusHMAN,  George  H.    .   85 

Danforth,  M.  I.     .      .   65 

Dickinson,  Anson   44 

Dickinson,  Daniel   56 

DuNLAP,  William   36 

DuRRiE,  George  H.   108 

Durrie,  John   102 

Earl,  Ralph   31 

Eldridge,  C.  W.   78 

Elliot,  Benjamin  F   141 

Elliott,  C.  Loring                                                                                         .  81 

Ellsworth   72 

Emmons,  A.  H.   .90 

Fairchild,  Louis    .      .      .      .   66 

Fairman,  Col.  Gideon   .      .  .39 

Fanning,  Solomon   72 

Fisher,  Alvin  .   54 

Fitch,  John  L.       .   145 

Flagg,  Henry  C  .81 

Flagg,  George  W   91 

Flagg,  Jared  B   106 

Flagg,  Montague   155 

Flagg,  C.  Noel   159 

Francis,  George   46 

Freeman,  George   46 

Gilbert,  George  A.      ...      .      .      .      .      .   88 

God  Bacchus   39 

Hart,  Alfred  .   ,      .  .88 

Hart,  James  M   137 

Hekking   162 

Hennessy,  W.  J   163 

Hewins,  Philip   71 

Hicks,  Thomas   121 

Hine,  Charles   135 

Hinsdale,  Richard   125 


xii 


Contents. 


PAGE 

Holt,  Samuel   66 

HOTCHKISS,  MiLO   66 

HoTCHKiss,  Wales  .      .      .  •   134 

Hubbard,  R.  W  '95 

Huntington,  Daniel  o      .  89 

IsHAM,  Ralph   109 

Ives,  Chauncey  B.  {Sculptor)   82 

Jameson,  J.  S   152 

Jewett,  F.  S   103 

Jewett,  William   ^6 

Jocelyn,  Nathaniel   ^6 

Johnson,  H.  C   123 

Jones,  S.  K   123 

Kohner,  William   ^0 

Kensett,  John  F  

Kessler,  Otto   146 

KiMBERLY,  DeNISON   88 

Lanman,  Charles   104 

Lawrence,  W.  R   140 

Linton,  William  J   83 

Loop,  Henry  A   142 

Lyman,  S.  S   84 

Malbone,  E.  G   43 

Mitchell,  John   78 

Moore,  E.  A   160 

Moore,  N.  A.   .    122 

Morse,  S.  F.  B   50 

MuNGER,  George   45 

MuNSON,  Lucius   59 

Nichols,  Edward  W   106 

Osgood,  S.  S   60 

Page,  William   78 

Parker,  T.  H.  .   66 

Pease,  E.  S   157 

Pease,  J.  Ives   74 


Contents,  xiii 

PAGE 

Percival,  Edwin   55 

Plackett,  E   157 

Porter,  C.  E   159 

Primus,  Nelson   154 

ROBBINS,  H.  W.   153 

Ropes,  Joseph   79 

Rossiter,  T.  p.   102 

Shattuck,  a.  D   144 

Sheffield,  Isaac   60 

Shegogue,  J.  H   71 

Shumway,  H.  C   .  -73 

Shurtleff,  R.  M   146 

Spencer,  J.  B   141 

Sperry,  R.  T   -157 

Sperry,  T.  S   Ill 

Stancliff,  J.  W   84 

Steele,  T.  S   156 

Stewart,  Rev.  J.  R   31 

Stone,  William  O.   141 

Terry,  Luther       .      .      .   83 

Terry,  W.  E  ,  .163 

Thompson,  H.  1   147 

TiSDALE,  ELKANAH  :        ....  37 

Trumbull,  Gurdon   150 

Trumbull,  Col.  John   33 

Tryon,  D.  W   i6o 

Walsh,  Samuel                                           ,      .   4^ 

Warner,  O.  L.  {Sculptor)   1^6 

Weir,  J.  F   152 

Wheeler,  W.  R   143 

White,  Edwin   94 

Wilson,  M   162 

Wiseman,  R.  W   163 

Wood,  T.  W   121 

Wright,  George  F   137 

WuNDER,  Adalbert   136 

Wylie,  J.  Edward   163 


CATALOGUE  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Col.  John  Trumbull  (from  the  Bust  in  the  Yale  Gallery)    .      .      .  Frontispiece. 

Yale  Art  Building   8 

Wadsworth  Athen^um  .10 

"Bacchus"  (from  the  Windham  Jail)   40 

Prof.  S.  F.  B.  Morse  (Portrait)   50 

"The  Sisters."   By  S.  F.  B.  Morse   52 

Nathaniel  Jocelyn  (Portrait)   57 

"Cinque."   By  Nathaniel  Jocelyn   58 

Benjamin  H.  Coe  (Portrait)   61 

"The  Bracelet."   By.  Gen.  T.  S.  Cummings    .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .  .68 

Gen.  Cummings's  House  in  Mansfield,  Conn   .      .      .  -70 

Henry  C.  Shumway  (Portrait)   73 

J.  Ives  Pease  (Portrait)   75 

"Memory."   By  Seth  W.  Cheney   76 

Seth  W.  Cheney  (Portrait)   77 

Henry  Bryant  (Portrait)   80 

Luther  Terry  (Portrait)   83 

George  H.  Cushman  (Portrait)   86 

Daniel  Huntington  (Portrait)   89 

A.  H.  Emmons  (Portrait)                                                                                .  90 

George  W.  Flagg  (Portrait)   92 

"  Hester  Prynne."   By  George  W.  Flagg   93 

"Evening  Hymn  of  the  Huguenot  Refugees."   By  Edwin  White  ....  94 

An  Original  Sketch.    By  R.  W.  Hubbard   96 

An  Original  Sketch.    By  R.  W.  Hubbard     .      .   97 

Charles  Lanman  (Portrait)   104 

"A  Deserted  House."   By  Charles  Lanman   105 

Jared  B.  Flagg  (Portrait)   107 

George  H.  Durrie  (Portrait)   108 

E.  S.  Bartholomew  (Portrait).  —  From  a  Pen-Sketch  by  Himself  ....  112 

XV 


xvi 


Catalogue  of  Illustrations. 


"Eve  Repentant."   By  E.  S.  Bartholomew   ii6 

The  Bartholomew  Grave  at  Naples   ii8 

Charles  D.  W.  Brownell  (Portrait)  

"The  Charter  Oak."    By  Charles  D.  W.  Brownell   120 

"A  Snow-Scene."    By  N.  A.  Moore   122 

Vincent  Colyer  (Portrait)   124 


"Getting  a  Bite."   By  R.  Hinsdale   126 

An  Original  Study.    By  F.  E.  Church   128 

F.  E.  Church  (Portrait)   130 

Sketch  from  the  Santa  Isabel  Valley.    By  F.  E.  Church   132 

Wales  Hotchkiss  (Portrait)   13^ 

"The  Drove  at  the  Ford."    By  J.  M.  Hart   136 

"On  the  Farmington  River."    By  J.  M.  Hart   137 

Albert  F.  Bellows  (Portrait)   138 

"A  Connecticut  Homestead."    By  A.  F.  Bellows   139 

William  Oliver  Stone  (Portrait)   142 

"/Enone."    By  Henry  A.  Loop   143 

A  Study  of  Sheep.    By  A.  D.  Shattuck   144 

A  Library-Scene.    By  H.  L  Thompson   147 

"A  Critical  Moment."   By  Gurdon  Trumbuli   149 

Gurdon  Trumbull  (Portrait)   150 

Study  of  a  Black  Bass.    By  Gurdon  Trumbuli   151 

"At  the  Confessional."    By  J.  F.  Weir   152 

John  S.  Jameson  (Portrait)   153 

IT  W.  Robbins  (Portrait)   154 

"Roadside  Elms  at  Farmington."    By  H.  W.  Robbins   155 

A  Study  of  Fruit.    By  C.  E.  Porter   159 

An  Owl.    By  E.  A.  Moore   160 

Mrs.  Henry  A.  Loop  (Portrait)   165 

"After  the  War."    By  Mrs.  Jerome   169 

"A  Bouquet  for  Mamma."    By  Mrs.  H.  A.  Loop   171 

Study  of  a  Head.    By  Mrs.  S.  C.  Porter   .  172 


ART  AND  ARTISTS  IN  CONNECTICUT. 


PREAMBLE. 


NE  of  the  three  pioneers  in  original  art  in  America,  Connecticut, 


\^^_^  entered  more  vigorously  into  the  field  than  either  of  her  sister 
States  ;  though  she  cannot  claim  at  the  outset  to  have  attained  the  emi- 
nent artistic  ability  of  one  of  her  competitors.  She  produced  the  first, 
and  for  years  almost  all,  of  the  standard  historical  works  of  the  coun- 
try. She  has  given  the  world  more  artists  of  acknowledged  ability  than 
any  other  State ;  and  from  the  outset  her  sons  have  either  led  the  van,  or 
appeared  in  the  front  rank  of  the  nation.  The  first  academic  art-school 
of  the  country  is  in  Connecticut.  In  one  year,  five  out  of  six  successful 
applicants  for  the  title  of  academician  before  the  National  Academy  of 
Design  were  natives  of  the  State ;  and  to-day  over  two  hundred  of  the  art- 
students  in  New-York  City,  aside  from  many  abroad,  are  from  Connecti- 
cut ;  still  the  largest  number  in  the  field,  so  far  as  can  be  ascertained,  from 
any  of  the  States.  Not  only  has  she  been  thus  productive  of  artists,  but 
also  a  popular  resort  where  many  other  great  men  in  art  have  worked. 
In  this  way  an  important  influence  has  been  exerted  over  even  the 
secluded  portions  by  many  of  the  leading  artists  of  the  nation.  Coming 
in  contact  with  the  thoughts,  theories,  and  work  of  masters  in  the  profes- 
sion, an  art-feeling  has  sprung  up,  of  unusual  depth  and  extent,  even  in 
many  undisturbed  villages.  This  intimacy  has  done  what  the  school- 
master is  not  allowed  to  attempt.  It  has  imparted  a  knowledge  which  no 
text-books  of  to-day  contain.  It  is  invaluable  as  an  open-sesame  to  the 
richest  blessings  of  civilization,  and  a  promise  of  even  more  and  better 
artists  for  the  constantly-increasing  facilities.  It  has  planted  in  the 
hearts  of  the  people  an  experimental  knowledge  and  understanding  love 
for  that  which  is  truest  and  best  of  the  work  of  men's  fingers. 

The  arts  of  design  are  with  man,  and  as  truly  a  part  of  him  as  his  life- 
blood  ;  frequently  developed,  but  oftener  sadly  neglected.    There  is  not 


2 


Art  and  Artists  in  Connecticut, 


to  be  found  a  nation  where  painting  or  picture-making  after  some  fashion 
does  not  exist  and  has  not  existed.  It  is,  in  fact,  in  the  case  of  every  pre- 
historic nation,  the  first  record  of  its  Hfe,  and  the  earliest  chronicle  of  its 
being.  It  is  also  the  invariable  exponent  of  a  nation's  power.  It  indi- 
cates, through  its  relics  of  the  past,  the  rise  and  decHne  of  its  patron  ; 
and,  in  the  present,  expands  precisely  as  the  nation  rises  in  civilization. 
The  history  of  art-unions,  compared  with  the  history  of  nations,  and 
their  relative  positions  in  the  scale  of  civilization,  their  chronological 
superiority,  their  individual  popularity,  their  national  importance,  forms 
an  excellent  illustration  of  this  fact.^ 

Holding  such  an  important  position,  it  is  vitally  unwise  for  either 
nation  or  individual  to  favor  any  measure  that  may  prove  discouraging  to 
art,  and  eminently  advisable  to  support  such  measures  as  shall  stimulate 
it.  It  is  a  subject  that  cannot  be  handled  with  carelessness.  It  depends 
too  entirely  upon  mutual  support  to  be  defrauded  of  one  jot  of  patronage. 
Yet  the  course  of  America  in  this  respect  is  something  that  may  with 
propriety  be  questioned.  The  intelligent  admirer  is  no  less  important  to 
the  success  of  art  than  the  intelligent  artist.  Either  without  the  other  is 
an  impossibility.  Both  must  lie  dormant  if  one  will  not  rise.  Progress 
cannot  be  made  while  the  arts  and  the  people  fail  to  appreciate  each  other. 
The  opinion  of  the  sensible  lover  of  art  elevates  the  artist.  The  work  of 
the  good  artist  educates  the  critic.  In  this  same  connection,  a  most  unfor- 
tunate obstacle  is  placed  before  the  American  artist.  The  true,  profes- 
sional art-critic  is  the  royal  interpreter  of  art  for  the  people,  and  the  bearer 
of  the  people's  opinion  to  the  artist,  —  a  most  important  person  to  both. 
In  Germany,  in  England,  his  position  is  looked  upon  as  next,  if  not  equal, 
to  the  artist  whose  work  he  faithfully  explains  and  criticises.  In  America 
there  are  many  who  would  boldly  assert  that  there  is  not  a  single  native- 
art  critic  in  the  land.  This  may  be  overdrawn  :  it  is  to  be  hoped  it  is.  But 
surely  they  are  very  few,  who,  with  the  knowledge  and  ability,  have  not 
been  persuaded,  either  by  fancy  or  bribery  of  some  sort,  to  desert  Ameri- 
can art  altogether,  unless  to  compare  it  disparagingly  with  imported  work. 
Those  who  have  not  made  themselves  foreign-art  critics,  as  a  class  spend 
their  energy  either  in  blindly  lauding  or  maliciously  slaughtering  what- 
ever may  fall  victim  to  their  pens.  The  same  result  is  obtained  in  either 
case.    Those  true  critics  are  yet  wanting,  in  any  number  at  least,  who, 

1  The  United  States  is  strangely  an  exception  to  this  comparison.  By  one  of  those  unaccountable  per- 
formances of  the  government,  the  American  Art  Union,  that,  founded  in  1839,  in  1849  had  18,960  sub- 
scribers, an  income  of  $96,300,  and  distributed  over  the  United  States  1,010  works  of  fine  art  from  Ameri- 
can talent,  was  abolished  under  the  act  against  lotteries.  Thus  a  very  large  demand  for  home  art-work  was 
cut  off.  This  is  one  of  several  causes  for  the  fact  that  to-day  nearly  nine  hundred  American-born  artists  are 
living  in  foreign  lands. 


Preamble,  3 

gathering  the  beauties  of  a  picture,  will  lay  them  before  the  public  with 
an  intelligent  explanation,  and  who,  with  equal  sincerity  and  clearness, 
will  depict  the  faults.  With  such  we  might  all  in  time  become  critics 
for  ourselves,  neither  dependent  upon  the  dealer,  who,  for  the  profit  he 
obtains,  is  much  more  ready  to  dispose  of  a  foreign  than  a  native  produc- 
tion; nor  upon  the  popular  critic  of  to-day,  who,  for  various  causes,  is 
more  willing  to  talk  of  foreign  art ;  nor  upon  ignorant  guess-work,  relying 
on  the  name  of  the  artist  or  the  depth  of  the  frame  for  the  quality  of  the 
picture. 

Hitherto  the  artists  of  America  (there  are  a  few  illustrious  examples) 
who  have  reached  a  point  of  excellence  that  must  be  acknowledged,  that 
would  be  by  foreign  countries  if  not  by  their  own,  have  done  it  by  fight- 
ing against  odds  and  the  interposition  of  wholly  unnecessary  hinderances. 
They  reach  the  goal,  and  receive  their  laurels,  at  a  time  when  they  care  less 
for  them  than  at  any  previous  hour  of  their  history.  They  look  upon  us 
as  enemies  and  stumbling-blocks  that  have  with  difficulty  been  overcome. 
Of  what  value  is  our  praise  to  them  when  they  have  literally  forced  it 
from  us }  It  is  but  the  sword  of  the  conquered  passed  to  the  conqueror. 
They  need  it  no  longer.  It  has  dulled  its  edge  to  thwart  them,  and  failed. 
In  the  nature  of  things,  they  must  continue  to  contemplate  us  as  simply  a 
vanquished  foe,  laving  the  feet  of  our  victor.  There  is  nothing  healthful 
or  satisfactory  in  this  ;  yet  it  is  only  a  result  of  ignorance  on  the  part  of 
the  public,  inability  to  judge  for  themselves,  and  the  necessity  of  taking 
others'  opinions,  biassed  and  prejudiced,  as  they  may  come.  Though  wealth 
makes  honorable  men,  money  cannot  purchase  that  which  lifts  the  man 
above  the  brute ;  which  raises  one  nation  higher  than  another ;  makes 
one  man  happier  than  his  richer  neighbor  ;  which  gives  a  charm  to  life, 
softening  its  roughest  edges,  brightening  its  darkest  hours,  —  love  of  the 
beautiful.  That  home  is  more  artistic  v/here  the  prints  from  weekly 
papers  are  tacked  without  frames  to  the  walls,  in  a  choice  and  system  dis- 
playing at  least  an  appreciation  and  sympathy,  than  the  mansion  where  a 
host  of  pictures  are  indiscriminately  hung  and  set,  graded  by,  and  apolo- 
gies for,  the  frames  that  surround  them.  Intelligent  sympathy  elevates 
the  standard  of  art.  Ignorance,  no  matter  how  sympathetic,  is  injurious. 
The  artist  who  produces  that  which  is.  worthy  of  admiration,  the  critic 
who  honestly  translates  it,  the  public  bestowing  honor  where  honor  is  due, 
—  all  conspire  to  the  highest  civilization  ;  and  each  endeavor  tends  equally 
to  raise  the  art  of  the  country  to  a  higher  standard. 

This  growth  of  art  in  a  state  or  a  nation  is  very  desirable  :  for  art  is 
not  only  a  great  civilizer ;  it  is  a  great  moralizer.  Ruskin  says,  "  Art  is  not 
only  moral,  but  little  else  than  art  is  moral."    He  is  at  least  right  so  far. 


4 


Art  and  Artists  in  Connecticut. 


that,  without  industry,  a  life  is  a  life  of  guilt;  and  that,  without  art,  industry 
is  brutality.  One  reads  more  of  history,  chivalry,  romance,  or  villany,  in 
a  glance  at  a  picture,  than  in  a  day  over  a  novel.  A  bad  book  may  be 
read  and  forgotten,  but  a  bad  picture  not.  Every  picture,  no  matter 
what  it  is,  tells  a  story.  It  tells  it  more  clearly,  more  concisely,  more 
forcibly,  and  consequently  more  lastingly,  than  it  can  be  told  in  any  other 
way.  This  is  the  most  powerful  of  all  arguments  for  every  public  and 
private  endeavor  to  elevate  a  nation's  art ;  and  that  history  achieves  a 
noble  end,  well  repaying  the  arduous  labor  of  compiling  it,  that,  being  a 
record  of  the  past,  becomes  an  inspiration  for  the  future  to  warm  a  single 
breast  with  patriotic  enthusiasm,  create  one  new  sympathizer  for  original 
talent,  or  recall  a  single  patron  of  foreign  art  to  a  knowledge  that  infinite 
possibilities  are  centred  in  America. 

At  present,  America  seems  more  ready  to  accept  the  work  of  a  foreign- 
er, after  paying  the  cost  of  importing,  than  the  work  of  her  own  children, 
save  of  a  very  few  who  hold  the  highest  grade.  Millions  of  American 
money  fall  into  European  coffers  for  originals  of  the  old  masters,  frauds 
on  the  old  masters,  copies  of  the  old  masters,  in  a  mania  that  reaches  even 
to  absurdity,  regardless  of  the  continual  blows  paid  thereby  to  American 
originality.  European  art  may  be  better  than  American.  In  justice  to  cir- 
cumstances, it  should  be  vastly  better  in  comparison  than  it  is.  But  there 
is  a  philosophy  as  well  as  policy  in  the  patronage  of  art,  that  must  sit  in 
judgment  with  the  knowledge  even  of  an  expert.  There  is  more  in  the 
filling  of  a  gallery  than  the  collection  of  indiscriminate  canvases  to  cover 
the  space  required.  There  are  other  matters  for  consideration  than  the 
individual  merits  of  pictures.  Justice,  common  consent,  patriotism,  de- 
mand more.  That  artist  encouraged  by  the  public  will  grow  ;  while  he  who 
is  continually  neglected,  no  matter  what  his  genius  may  be,  is  belittled 
and  injured.  If  we  would  have  great  men  in  art,  we  must  make  them 
great.  They  must  win  their  laurels  through  us,  by  us,  from  us,  not  in 
spite  of  us.  The  task  of  the  growing,  aspiring  artist  is  a  hard  one  at  the 
best.  He  has  great  excellences  before  him  to  rival  if  he  would  become 
a  leader.  There  is  every  opportunity  for  effective,  intelligent,  sym- 
pathetic patronage. 

AN  OUTLINE  OF  THE  GROWTH  OF  ART  IN  CONNECTICUT. 

Strictly  speaking,  the  arts  of  design  never  began,  and  will  never  end. 
From  the  fig-leaf  aprons  to  the  last  sepulchre,  they  direct  the  labor  of 
head  and  hand.  The  art  of  painting  in  America  began  with  the  red 
man's  body  frescoing,  and  in  the  colonies  was  hardly  younger  than  the 


An  Outline  of  the  Growth  of  Art  hi  Connecticut,  5 

earliest  settlements.  Cotton  Mather  speaks  of  an  English  limner  and 
his  sitter  for  a  portrait  in  Boston  in  1667.  There  have  also  been  the 
briefest  accounts  brought  down  concerning  a  few  native  painters,  not  of 
sufficient  merit  to  justify  a  memory,  who  lived  in  the  early  part  of 
1700.  But  there  was  not  art-feeling  enough  in  the  world  at  that 
time  to  have  warmed  the  soul  of  one  Raphael.  The  first  art-love  and 
labor  of  importance,  as  leaving  a  record  of  influence  behind,  that  sprang 
from  the  virgin  soil  of  America,  was  not  until  the  middle  of  the  eigh- 
teenth century. 

In  1728  Dean  Berkeley,  the  most  potent  of  the  early  patrons  of  Yale, 
reached  this  country  from  Ireland,  bringing  in  his  party  John  Smybert, 
a  painter.  Art  was  at  a  low  ebb  in  England,  and  Smybert  was  not  a 
prodigy.  He  had  studied  from  Vandyke,  however,  and  in  spirit  brought 
his  master's  work  for  the  first  time  to  America.  To  such  an  extent  was 
this  true,  that  Benjamin  West,  one  of  the  first  to  take  up  the  mantle  of 
Smybert,  though  he  studied  him  probably  only  through  his  pictures,  bore, 
in  his  earlier  work,  the  most  evident  traces  of  Vandyke. 

Smybert  was  a  better  educated  than  talented  artist.  His  famous  work, 
"The  Berkeley  Family,"  now  in  the  Yale  Art  Gallery,  displays  more  the 
touch  of  a  man  who  knew  by  experience  and  teaching  what  certain  causes 
must  effect,  and  whose  brush  was  more  the  brush  of  a  mechanic,  than  a 
man  moving  in  a  sphere  of  originality  above  his  teachers.  But  it  was 
wonderful  work  to  be  seen  in  America ;  probably  better  than  the  average 
of  the  best  English  works  of  the  day.  It  was  an  inspiration.  There 
may  have  been  many  men  before  in  whom  the  fire  of  Angelo  wanted 
only  a  lighting-spark,  but  did  not  receive  it. 

From  1728  to  1751  John  Smybert  divided  his  attention  between  New 
Haven,  Conn.,  Newport,  R.  L,  and  Boston,  Mass.,  settling  at  last  in 
Boston  ;  leaving  there  when  he  died  his  son,  Nathaniel  Smybert.  Old 
Yale  —  then  New  Yale  —  was  the  scene  of  his  school-days,  though  he 
was  only  a  temporary  student.  Boston  claims  him  as  being  the  grandson 
of  Dr.  Williams,  the  old  Latin  teacher  of  the  Hub.  There  his  best  work 
was  done,  and  there  his  bones  were  laid.  He  promised  a  most  remark- 
able future,  but  died  while  hardly  on  the  threshold  of  his  career.  Black- 
burn (of  Connecticut),  Benjamin  West  and  Copley,  Col.  Trumbull  and 
Ralph  Earl  (of  Connecticut),  Gilbert  Stuart,  Malbone,  and  Washington 
Allston,  in  chronological  order,  retain  the  glory  of  being  the  first  great 
artists  of  America.  Strictly  speaking,  then,  the  history  of  original  art  in 
Connecticut  begins  with  the  influence  of  John  Smybert,  Blackburn,  Col. 
Trumbull,  and  Ralph  Earl. 

The  standard  of  art  in  the  State  has  been  affected  by  various  vicissi- 


6 


Art  and  Artists  in  Connecticut. 


tudes  ;  but  the  tendency  has  been  upward.  There  has  not  always  been  a 
national  leader  from  Connecticut  so  boldly  in  front  as  Trumbull  of  the 
first,  and  Church  of  the  last  generation  ;  but  prominent  men  throughout 
have  represented  her,  and  left  a  record  of  increasing  numbers  and  ability. 

The  position  of  Blackburn  is  uncertain,  as  will  be  seen  hereafter :  but 
after  him  it  is  certain  that  Earl  and  Trumbull  followed,  as  direct  results 
of  Smybert  and  Copley's  influence ;  and  Copley  was  taught  by  Blackburn. 
Malbone,  following  this  influence,  in  the  very  last  of  the  eighteenth  century 
visited  Connecticut  with  his  famous  talent  devoted  to  miniature  -  portrait 
painting.  Tisdale  was  the  next  in  succession.  His  art-feeling  was  due 
in  part  to  his  townsmen  Trumbull  and  Earl,  they  being  prominently  figure 
and  historic  painters,  and  Tisdale's  first  work  the  same,  but  chiefly  to  Mal- 
bone, whose  miniature  portraits  he  copied,  and  in  which  branch  he  devel- 
oped his  strongest  power.  The  country  was  now  reviving  from  the  terri- 
ble devastation  and  depression  of  the  Revolutionary  war.  A  strange  fact 
noticeable  to  every  student  of  cause  and  effect  and  practical  results  in  the 
world's  history,  though  apparently  inconsistent,  is  an  increase  of  refine- 
ment, a  revival  in  cesthetics,  a  marked  progress  in  the  fine  arts,  after  every 
such  conflict  and  the  melancholy  season  following.  The  present  enthu- 
siasm in  art-interests,  following  upon  the  Rebellion,  is  no  exception,  but 
perhaps  according  to  an  invariable  rule. 

This  strong  head-block  for  the  art  of  Connecticut,  in  Trumbull,  Earl, 
and  Tisdale,  and  Stewart  (J.  R.),  in  fact,  who,  though  not  superior  in  art, 
was  much  for  the  time,  was  planted  directly  after  the  Revolution.  Gideon 
Fairman,  John  Coles,  Anson  Dickinson,  Munger,  Waldo,  George  Free- 
man, followed  in  rapid  succession  in  the  three  departments  in  which 
examples  had  been  set  them.  Samuel  Morse,  then  in  Yale  College  dili- 
gently laying  the  foundation  for  his  vast  achievements  in  telegraphy,  came 
within  this  circle ;  and  the  native  talent  that  had  exhibited  itself  when  he 
was  but  four  years  old  was  fired  to  such  an  extent,  that,  when  the  day  for 
his  selection  of  a  profession  came,  he  wrote  to  his  father,  I  am  cut  out 
to  be  an  artist."  His  teacher,  Allston,  introduced  him  in  London  to  the 
wonderful  art  of  modelling  in  clay.  With  this  knowledge,  illustrated  in 
his  world-renowned  "Dying  Here  ales,"  he  returned  to  New  Haven. 
Hezekiah  Augur  was  by  nature  endowed  with  the  requisite  qualities ;  but 
it  was  not  until  he  received  the  direct  advice  from  the  lips  of  Morse  that 
he  turned  the  ability  toward  marble,  and  became  the  first  native  sculptor 
of  Connecticut.  Thus  another  branch  was  introduced.  The  chain  so 
firmly  fastened  now  rapidly  became  strong  with  many  good  links.  Fisher, 
William  Jewett,  Daniel  Dickinson,  Jocelyn,  Munson,  Osgood,  Shefifield, 
and  Alexander,  born  within  the  eighteenth  century,  all  definitely  drew 


A  History  of  the  Yale  Art-  Gallery, 


7 


their  inspiration  from  the  same  sources.  Seth  Cheney,  having  learned  at 
home  the  art  of  engraving,  and  being  a  natural  draughtsman,  went  to  Paris, 
the  paradise  of  crayon-drawing,  to  pursue  his  studies  of  engraving.  He 
could  not  have  avoided  drifting  into  the  use  of  the  crayon,  and  returned 
to  champion,  not  only  in  Connecticut,  but  in  America,  another  branch  of 
art.  Thus  crayon-drawing  was  virtually  first  introduced  into  the  State,  and 
soon  obtained  many  devotees.  Thomas  Cole  next  visited  Hartford,  as,  in 
a  sense,  a  protege  of  Daniel  Wadsworth.  Cole  was  pioneering  the  way 
into  landscape-painting,  and  thus  virtually  introduced  another  branch  as 
an  individual  study.  H.  C.  Flagg  and  F.  S.  Jewett,  both  sailors  born, 
were  the  first  distinctive  marine-artists  of  the  State.  Born  in  the  last 
half  of  the  eighteenth  century  were  twenty-three  native  Connecticut  art- 
ists, nineteen  of  them  after  the  Revolution.  Born  in  the  first  quarter  of 
the  nineteenth  century  were  forty-eight  male  and  fifteen  female  artists. 
Now  the  field  is  open  wide.  There  is  no  longer  a  possibility  of  tracing 
the  influence  in  individual  cases,  except  by  individual  testimony  or  dis- 
tinguishing characteristic ;  nor  any  longer  a  possibility  of  defining  the  pre- 
cise progress  and  course  in  the  state  as  severed  from  the  nation. 

The  time  has  fortunately  passed  when  passion  shall  lie  dormant  for 
want  of  inspiration ;  when  ignorance  shall  crush  the  artist  born,  unless, 
from  sheer  impossibility  to  remain  under  a  bushel,  the  enthusiasm  burst  its 
confines  in  a  struggle  for  the  light.  The  days  are  dead,  happily  dead, 
when  the  child  of  art  must  fight  perhaps  his  hardest  battles  with  himself, 
not  so  much  as  knowing  what  art  is,  nor  having  seen  a  single  valuable 
picture.  Groping  in  the  darkness  after  light  is  the  most  discouraging  of 
all  labor.  Doubtless  many  have  given  up  the  task,  and  lived  and  died 
comparatively  worthless  in  the  world,  not  even  themselves  knowing  what 
they  were  lacking.  Hence  much  of  the  spice  of  romance  is  lost  from  the 
artist's  life  that  savored  it  a  century  ago.  The  struggle,  the  groan,  the 
flush  of  victory,  the  shout  of  triumph,  are  not  so  frequent  to-day ;  and  to 
the  artist  himself  his  career  seems  even  more  prosaic,  as  a  rule,  than  to 
his  friend.  There  is  an  importance,  however,  in  every  step  of  progress 
made,  and  every  new  toiler  for  glory,  that  still  shrouds  each  history  of  a 
life  with  intensest  interest  to  the  lover  of  art. 

A  HISTORY  OF  THE  YALE  ART-GALLERY. 

The  first  important  art  collection  in  Connecticut  was  opened  to  the 
public  in  183 1,  under  the,  control  of  Yale  College.  The  gallery  was  in  a 
small  building  erected  for  the  purpose  at  a  cost  of  four  thousand  dollars. 
It  consisted  of  a  few  works  of  art  from  time  to  time  gathered  by  the  uni- 


8 


Art  and  Artists  in  Connecticut, 


versity,  including  Smybert's  Dean  Berkeley's  Family  "  and  the  Trum- 
bull Gallery,  just  secured  to  the  college.  The  manner  in  which  Yale  be- 
came possessed  of  the  Trumbull  pictures  has  been  presented  in  various 
lights,  but  is  of  no  great  importance.  Col.  Trumbull  professed  to  think 
that  he  gave  them.  Yale  College  supposed  that  she  bought  them.  This 
was  only  two  ways  of  describing  the  same  transfer.  Col.  Trumbull  being 
left  a  widower,  and  finding  old  age  impairing  the  cunning  of  his  right 
hand  for  new  productions,  half  in  anger,  half  in  melancholy  generosity, 
offered  his  entire  remaining  collection  (doubtless  containing  some  of  his 
most  admirable  work)  to  Yale  College,  on  condition  that  he  should  be 


YALE  ART-BUILDING. 


paid  fifteen  hundred  dollars  a  year  for  the  rest  of  his  life,  either  from 
the  income  of  exhibition  or  some  other  source.  This  proposition  was 
accepted,  and  the  first  public  art-gallery  begun.  Of  the  artist  much 
will  be  said  hereafter.  His  gift  consisted  of  several  large  pictures  too 
intimately  known  to  the  people  of  Connecticut  to  warrant  comment,  and 
two  hundred  and  fifty  portraits.  Most  of  the  portraits  are  especially  val- 
uable as  being  of  the  prominent  men  of  the  Revolution  with  whom  Col. 
Trumbull  was  personally  acquainted,  and  having  been  painted  from  life. 
They  are  the  first  copies,  made  while  collecting  portraits  for  his  many 


The  Wadsworth  Athenceum  Gallery.  9 

famous  historical  works.  Other  pictures  have  been  occasionally  bought 
by  the  college,  and  others  from  time  to  time  added  by  gift  and  loan.  The 
collection  received  no  marked  impulse  until  the  year  1857.  Then  an  inci- 
dent occurred  described  later,  in  connection  with  the  Yale  Art  School, 
which  brought  about  in  its  time  a  munificent  donation  by  A.  R.  Street 
for  the  present  elaborate  building,  where  the  gallery  was  placed  in  1866. 
In  1867  a  temporary  exhibition  of  loaned  works  of  art,  under  the  manage- 
ment of  a  committee  of  public-spirited  citizens  of  New  Haven,  was  held, 
and  did  much  to  introduce  this  new  feature  to  public  notice,  and  to  inter- 
est the  people  in  its  growth.  The  proceeds  amounted  to  over  four  thou- 
sand dollars,  —  seven  hundred  dollars  in  excess  of  expenses.  This  was  de- 
voted to  the  purchase  of  a  series  of  casts  illustrative  of  different  stages  of 
plastic  art  among  the  Greeks,  designed  to  be  the  foundation  of  a  collection 
covering  the  whole  history  of  sculpture.  In  the  spring  of  1868  the  well- 
known  "  Jarves  Collection,"  illustrative  of  Italian  painting  from  the  tenth 
to  the  sixteenth  century,  was  placed  in  one  of  the  galleries  for  a  term  of 
years.  This  was  a  very  important  accession  to  the  means  of  instruction 
in  the  school,  a  complete  gallery  in  itself,  and  an  addition  that  naturally 
attracted  much  attention  from  visitors.  A  few  years  since  this  fine  collec- 
tion was  purchased  by  the  institution  on  favorable  terms,  and  now  forms 
part  of  the  permanent  gallery.  The  Jarves  Collection  consists  of  about 
one  hundred  and  twenty  pictures,  a  few  of  which  are  by  unknown  artists, 
painted  on  wood,  with  gold  backgrounds.  They  are  illustrative  of  the 
rise  of  Christian  art  in  Western  Europe.  The  progress  of  Italian  paint- 
ing is  closely  followed  in  this  collection.  The  series  commences  with 
contemporaries  of  Cimabue  and  Giotto,  and  contains  those  of  Veronese 
and  Giorgione,  illustrating  the  most  interesting  period  of  modern  art. 
Many  of  the  best  pictures  in  the  gallery,  not  belonging  to  these  two  spe- 
cific collections,  are  from  the  brushes  of  Connecticut  artists,  and  will  be 
referred  to  during  the  course  of  the  biographies.  Beside  the  paintings 
there  is  a  large  collection  of  casts  and  marbles,  including  some  exceeding- 
ly interesting  and  valuable  original  work.  Bartholomew's  bas-reliefs  of 
''Adam  and  Eve,"  designed  for  the  pedestal  of  his  famous  *'Eve  Repent- 
ant," form  an  important  feature. 

THE  WADSWORTH  ATHEN^UM  GALLERY. 

The  Athenaeum  Art  Association  in  Hartford,  like  all  progress  in  art  a 
half-century  ago,  was  slow  to  obtain  shape,  even  after  the  idea  assumed 
proportions  of  dignity.  Daniel  Wadsworth,  son  of  Col.  Jeremiah  Wads- 
worth  of  Revolutionary  fame,  was,  in  his  early  life,  the  most  influential  art- 


lO 


Art  and  Artists  in  Connecticut, 


lover  in  the  State.  Col.  Trumbull  was  an  uncle  of  Mrs.  Wadsworth ;  and 
his  influence  may  in  part  account  for  the  fine  taste  engendered  in  her  hus- 
band, as  displayed  not  only  in  his  choice  selections,  but  in  his  eagerness  to 
extend  the  benefits  of  his  collection  beyond  his  immediate  circle  of 
friends.  The  subject  had  long  been  under  discussion  in  one  form  or 
another,  when,  in  1842,  Daniel  Wadsworth  offered  to  contribute  a  lot, 
facing  one  hundred  and  twenty  feet  on  Main  Street  and  one  hundred  and 
twenty  feet  deep  (this  was  extended  fifty  feet  in  depth  when  the  demands 
of  the  building  were  estimated),  toward  the  founding  of  a  place  that  should 
be  devoted  to  the  collection  and  exhibition  of  the  fine  arts.  This  land 
was  the  site  of  the  residence  of  his  father.  Col.  Wadsworth.  In  accord- 
ance with  this  the  present  Athenaeum  building  was  erected,  the  original 


WADSWORTH  ATHENAEUM. 


design  being  extended,  through  the  influence  of  Alfred  Smith,  to  compre- 
hend a  wing  for  a  library,  and  another  for  an  historical  collection.  Mr. 
Wadsworth  finished  the  gallery  at  his  own  expense,  and  contributed  as  a 
loan  a  number  of  excellent  paintings.  Col.  Trumbull's  works  in  posses- 
sion of  the  Art-Union  Gallery  had  been  sold  at  auction,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  thirteen  pictures.  Among  these  were  some  of  great  value  as  good 
specimens  of  the  artist's  work.  A  subscription  was  taken  up,  in  which 
James  B.  Hosmer,  Alfred  Smith,  and  Daniel  Wadsworth,  were  large  con- 
tributors ;  and  these  pictures  were  purchased.  This,  with  a  few  other 
loans  and  purchases  by  subscription,  formed  the  gallery,  which  was 
opened  to  the  public  early  in  1844.    The  paintings  were  still  private  prop- 


A  History  of  the  Art- Schools  of  Connecticut,  1 1 

erty,  or  owned  proportionately  by  subscribers.  On  the  death  of  Mr.  Wads- 
worth,  it  became  evident  that  the  gallery  was  in  danger  of  going  to  pieces. 
Many  of  the  remaining  subscribers  presented  their  portions  to  form  an 
association,  and  raised  by  subscription  sufficient  to  purchase  the  shares  of 
those  less  generous.  The  collection  comprises  some  superior  works  of  art. 
Connecticut  names  are  prominent  in  the  list.  Among  the  works  from 
out  of  the  State  deserving  especial  attention  are  Wichelo's  Destruction 
of  Jerusalem,"  Vanderlyn's  ''Death  of  Miss  M'Crea,"  a  portrait  of  Rem- 
brandt Peale  by  candle-light,  a  full-length  portrait  of  Benjamin  West  when 
president  of  the  Royal  Academy  by  Sir  Thomas  Lawrence,  and  many 
others.  This  gallery,  if  not  the  birthplace,  has  been  at  least  the  cradle,  of 
many  ideas  in  art.  Frederick  Bartholomew  did  his  first  work  there  while 
acting  as  custodian,  using  the  small  unoccupied  room  as  a  studio  that  now 
contains  the  world-renowned  casts  and  marbles  of  his  later  production. 
These  were  purchased  after  his  death,  and,  with  occasional  additions,  —  to- 
gether with  a  large  marble  figure  of  his  Eve  Repentant,"  which  was  pro- 
duced after  his  death,  on  an  order  for  the  Athenaeum,  from  his  original 
model,  and  by  workmen  who  had  helped  him  upon  the  first,  —  form  an 
interesting  collection  of  plastic  art.  A  large  subscription  toward  this 
purchase  was  made  by  Col.  Samuel  Colt.  The  Wadsworth  Athenaeum 
Association  possesses  in  all  two  hundred  and  seventy-five  works  of  art, 
representing  a  value  of  from  sixty  to  eighty  thousand  dollars. 

Unfortunately  this  gallery  is  not  self-supporting;  which  fact  is  used  by 
many  as  an  argument  against  the  expenditure  of  any  thing  more  upon  it. 
The  people  will  not  appreciate  what  they  have,  it  is  said  :  why  do  more  } 
There  is  a  certain  amount  of  infant  philosophy  in  this,  and  much  lack  of 
common  sense.  A  gallery,  to  be  attractive,  should  constantly  present 
something  new,  —  not  necessarily  every  thing  new.  The  public  is  not, 
and  under  the  present  system  cannot  be,  well  enough  educated  to  study 
one  picture  untiringly  for  a  much  longer  time  than  the  artist  worked  in 
painting  it.  There  is  no  inducem.ent  to  make  repeated  visits  to  the  same 
old  collection,  when  one  sees  but  the  outlines  that  apparently  make  up  a 
picture.  The  attention  of  the  authorities  should  also  be  called  to  the  fact, 
that,  for  a  valuable  gallery,  the  pictures  are  very  improperly  cared  for. 

A  HISTORY  OF  THE  ART-SCHOOLS  OF  CONNECTICUT. 

The  Yale  Art  School,  the  first  and  in  many  respects  still  the  most 
prominent  school  of  the  sort  in  the  United  States,  is  at  least  an  excellent 
example  of  the  extent  to  which  this  valuable  system  of  culture  has  been 
adopted  in  America.    Following  is  a  brief  sketch  of  its  birth,  growth, 


12 


Art  and  Artists  in  Comtecticut, 


and  present  condition.  The  Yale  Gallery  had  been  in  existence  for  some 
time,  when,  in  1858,  an  incident  of  comparatively  little  moment  proved 
of  great  importance,  as  forerunner  and  instigator  of  the  Yale  School  of 
Art.  Members  of  the  Yale  Linonian  (literary)  Society  had  determined  to 
expend  a  certain  sum  on  a  work  of  art  to  adorn  their  hall.  Frederick 
Bartholomew  the  sculptor,  then  in  Rome,  was  asked  to  make  the  selection  ; 
and  through  his  influence  two  copies  of  marble  statues  from  the  antique 
were  purchased,  —  ''Demosthenes"  and  "Sophocles."  To  welcome  the 
arrival  of  such  royal  strangers,  a  loan  exhibition  was  arranged  and  held 
in  Alumni  Hall  for  two  months  in  the  summer  of  1858.  Seven  thou- 
sand visitors  examined  the  collection.  Such  an  enthusiasm  was  created, 
that  the  exhibition  resulted  in  a  recognition,  on  the  part  of  the  officers  and 
friends  of  Yale,  that  the  important  influence  which  art-culture  might  exert 
upon  college  students  rendered  it  desirable  as  a  branch  of  study  in  an 
academic  course.  Another  result  was  a  course  of  art-lectures,  delivered 
by  Professor  Salisbury  of*  New  Haven,  Mr.  Deming  of  Hartford,  Professor 
Greene  of  New  York,  Professor  A.  D.  White  of  Michigan  (now  President 
of  Cornell  University),  and  Donald  G.  Mitchell.  This  movement  led  to  a 
renewed  interest  throughout  the  community,  and  a  more  urgent  desire  on 
the  part  of  the  leading  men  of  the  college  to  establish  a  separate  depart- 
ment of  art  for  broader  and  more  varied  culture.  This  desire  had  been 
felt  for  some  time;  yet  the  way  was  not  opened  for  such  a  movement  until 
the  summer  of  1863,  when  Augustus  Russell  Street,  a  wealthy  and  public- 
spirited  citizen  of  New  Haven,  came  forward  with  the  generous  offer  to 
erect,  at  his  own  expense,  a  building  to  be  devoted  to  art  and  artistic 
studies.  Just  here  Nathaniel  Jocelyn,  still  a  venerable  and  energetic 
upholder  of  art  in  New  Haven,  should  not  be  forgotten.  Mr.  Jocelyn's 
influence  has  been  powerful  for  art  throughout  his  long  residence  in  the 
city  ;  and  Mr.  Street  many  times  confessed  that  it  was  chiefly  through  sug- 
gestions and  appeals  of  Mr.  Jocelyn  that  the  fact  of  this  important  lack  was 
impressed  upon  his  mind.  Hence,  in  a  sense,  the  art-school  owes  its  exist- 
ence no  less  to  Mr.  Jocelyn  than  to  its  founder,  Mr.  Street.  This  was  the 
first  practical  expression  of  the  growing  conviction  that  the  study  of  art 
came  within  the  scope  of  a  great  university.  His  aim  was,  not  simply  to 
found  a  museum,  but  to  establish  a  school  for  practical  instruction  in  art 
for  those  of  both  sexes  who  were  desirous  of  pursuing  the  fine  arts  as  a 
profession,  and  to  awaken  and  cultivate  a  taste  for  and  appreciation  of  the 
arts  among  the  undergraduates  and  others. 

The  corner-stone  of  the  large  and  costly  edifice  now  known  as  the  Yale 
Art  Building  was  laid  in  November,  1864.  It  was  completed  in  1866, 
under  supervision  of  the  architect  of  the  National  Academy  of  Design  in 


A  History  of  the  Art- Schools  of  Connecticut.  13 


New  York.  It  is  of  revived  Gothic,  —  an  adaptation  of  the  thirteenth 
century  to  the  customs  and  materials  of  to-day.  The  basement  contains 
drawing  and  modelling  rooms.  The  first  story  has  studios,  class-rooms, 
and  library.  In  the  second  story  is  the  gallery,  well  lighted  from  the  roof. 
The  expense  of  the  building  was  ^175,000.  The  founder  died  a  few 
months  before  its  completion.  The  greatest  want  that  now  appeared  for 
the  perfecting  of  this  design  was  a  thoroughly  competent  head,  capable  of 
conceiving  what  such  an  institution  should  be,  and  of  shaping  its  incipient 
developments,  as  well  as  of  directing  art-instruction  in  theory  and  in 
practice.  Such  a  man  was  found  in  Professor  John  F.  Weir,  an  artist  of 
established  reputation,  who  was  elected  to  the  directorship  of  the  school 
in  1869,  and  immediately  returned  from  his  studies  and  travels  in  Europe 
to  enter  upon  the  duties  which  he  has  since  successfully  fulfilled.  At 
the  same  time,  Professor  Eaton,  a  graduate  of  Yale  College  of  the  class 
of  i860,  was  appointed  to  fill  the  chair  of  the  history  of  art.  In  1870 
a  second  general  exhibition  of  pictures  was  opened.  It  may  prove  of 
interest  hereafter,  that,  at  this  second  exhibition,  among  the  noteworthy 
guests  were  R.  W.  Hubbard,  the  celebrated  landscape-painter  of  New 
York  (a  native  of  Middletown),  and  the  late  John  F.  Kensett. 

In  1870  a  large  purchase  of  casts  was  made  in  Europe,  and  from  time 
to  time  the  collection  has  steadily  increased  with  the  addition  of  well- 
selected  examples  of  plastic  art.  In  October,  1871,  an  endowment  was 
secured  for  a  professor  of  drawing ;  and  John  H.  Niemeyer,  a  student  of 
the  Ecole  des  Beaux-Arts,  Paris,  was  appointed  to  fill  the  position.  Sub- 
sequently Mr.  Frederick  R.  Honey  was  appointed  instructor  of  geometry 
and  perspective.  The  chair  of  anatomy  is  filled  by  Dr.  J.  P.  C.  Foster, 
resident-physician  of  New  Haven ;  the  chairs  of  sculpture  and  architect- 
ure being  still  vacant. 

The  general  objects  of  the  school,  as  stated  in  the  college  catalogue,  are 
the  cultivation  and  promotion  of  the  formative  arts,  painting,  sculpture, 
and  architecture,  through  practice  and  criticism.  The  school  is  open  to 
all  above  the  age  of  fifteen,  without  regard  to  sex.  It  already  affords  a 
thorough  system  of  instruction  in  drawing  and  painting ;  while  courses  of 
lectures  on  the  philosophy,  history,  and  practice  of  art,  are  delivered 
during  the  college-year.  The  school  possesses  a  collection,  numbering 
over  three  hundred,  of  Braun's  "  autotypes,"  which  are  of  great  value  in 
promoting  its  objects. 

The  art-movement  at  Yale  has  advanced  until  the  aggregate  of  property 
represented  by  this  department  amounts  to  over  ^300,000,  originating 
with  perhaps  the  largest  single  gift  from  a  private  source,  for  the  promo- 
tion of  an  institution  for  instruction  in  art,  in  any  country.    The  benefits 


14  Art  and  Artists  in  Connecticut.  ' 

of  this  institution  are  open  to  the  whole  country ;  for  the  department, 
while  connected  with  the  college  on  the  one  hand,  on  the  other  receives 
into  its  schools  all  who  desire  its  instructions.  A  charge  of  twelve  dollars 
per  month  for  each  student  is  made,  and  this  furnishes  the  means  of  pro- 
viding the  necessary  models  for  instruction.  The  same  privileges  are 
extended  to  students  in  this  department  as  those  accorded  students  in  all 
other  departments  of  the  university.  Notwithstanding  all  of  the  facilities, 
however,  the  lack  of  home  patronage  and  sympathy  still  appears.  There 
are  a  large  number  of  Connecticut  students  abroad  ;  there  are  over  two 
hundred  Connecticut  students  in  New-York  City  ;  while  there  are  but 
*  thirty-two  regular  students  in  New  Haven.  Perhaps  they  are  waiting  for 
the  Yale  school  to  grow,  till  it  shall  become  the  fashion  to  attend  there. 
It  would  be  the  same  stamp  of  reasoning  whereupon  we  are  waiting,  and 
always  have  waited,  for  our  artists  to  grow. 

There  was  a  struggle  toward  a  school  of  art  in  Hartford  in  1862.  After 
meeting,  and  gravely  discussing  the  needs  and  results  of  an  artists'  asso- 
ciation, it  was  decided  to  compose  such  a  society,  and  that  the  study  of 
an  egg  should  be  the  standard  of  admission,  with  various  requirements 
and  limitations.  Officers  were  chosen,  and  the  artists  very  generally 
entered  upon  the  competitive  examination.  Some  excellent  oil  eggs  are 
upon  canvases  scattered  over  the  United  States  to-day,  immortelles  of 
that  trial.  Some  found  an  egg  too  high  art  for  them.  Some  who  might 
have  found  it  too  high  considered  it  too  low,  and  did  not  attempt  it.  Alto- 
gether, like  its  nursery-famed  predecessor,  Humpty  Dumpty,  this  art-egg 
had  a  great  fall ;  and,  as  there  were  no  king's  oxen  and  no  king's  men  in 
a  republic,  no  one  ever  attempted  to  set  it  up  again. 

The  Connecticut  School  of  Design  presents  an  interesting  corpse  that 
much  needs  reviving.  The  society  was  formed  in  1871  under  the  name  of 
"The  Hartford  Art  Association."  The  experiment  seemed  to  promise  suc- 
cess ;  and  the  association  was  incorporated  in  May,  1872,  as  the  Connecti- 
cut School  of  Design,  with  full  powers,  and  a  sufficient  capital  for  begin- 
ning work.  The  members  and  honorary  members  included  the  best  artists 
and  many  prominent  men.  There  was  considerable  enthusiasm  created 
at  its  birth.  The  exhibition  of  1872  in  the  Charter-Oak  Life-insurance 
Building  was  a  complete  success.  One  hundred  and  twenty-eight  paint- 
ings were  loaned,  and  all  tokens  seemed  to  promise  fair  weather  and  good 
speed  to  the  young  art-school.  Among  the  artist-members  to  contribute 
to  this  exhibition  were  W.  R.  Wheeler,  R.  M.  Shurtleff,  Henry  Bryant, 
J.  W.  Stancliff,  N.  A.  Moore,  George  F.  Wright,  S.  S.  Lyman,  D.  W. 
Tryon,  Robert  Brandigee,  G.  R.  Turnbull,  O.  Abbiati,  Charles  N.  Flagg, 
Bryant  and  Rogers,  R.  T.  Sperry,  E.  C.  Kellogg,  T.  H.  Bartlett,  C.  H.  Meuth, 


A  History  of  the  Art- Schools  of  Connecticut.  15 

Miss  Ellen  M.  Pomroy,  and  Miss  E.  A.  Marsh.  But  the  Connecticut 
school  was  started  a  few  years  too  early  to  insure  success.  The  tide  was 
not  at  its  flood.  The  remaining  workers  in  the  good  cause  became  weary, 
and  little  more  than  the  skeleton  of  the  corporation  for  instruction  in  art 
remains.  Still  the  fact  that  there  is  such  a  society  in  legal  form,  pos- 
sessing a  fine  selection  of  casts  and  a  good  array  of  members,  and  repre- 
senting a  high  grade  of  artistic  talent,  should  inspire  the  public  to  an 
enthusiastic  movement  in  its  behalf.  There  is  no  danger  of  overdoing 
the  matter  of  art-education.  What  the  public-school  system  will  not 
attempt,  through  timidity  and  other  equally  good  causes,  the  people  should 
do  for  themselves  by  the  aid  of  art-associations.  The  free  school,  which 
for  three  years  was  held  in  the  Connecticut  Mutual  Building  by  this  soci- 
ety, should  be  resumed.    The  casts  alone  are  too  valuable  to  lie  idle. 

A  society  and  museum  of  great  promise  and  importance  appeared  with 
the  centennial  year  in  New  Haven,  under  the  title  of  "The  Connecticut 
Museum  of  Industrial  Art."  The  benefits  to  be  derived  by  the  artisan 
from  a  fundamental  education  in  art  need  not  be  repeated.  It  is  sufficient 
to  assert  that  the  objects  of  this  school  are  to  promote  the  prosperity  and 
artistic  advancement  of  the  industries  of  the  State.  The  plan  is  the  same, 
on  a  limited  scale,  as  that  upon  which  the  South  Kensington  Museum  is 
founded,  a  sketch  of  which  is  given  elsewhere.  The  Kensington  Mu- 
seum was  the  outgrowth  of  shame  on  the  part<of  the  English  people  that 
the  artistic  grace  of  their  handiwork  was  so  far  inferior  to  the  productions 
of  France  at  the  industrial  exhibition.  The  result  was  most  favorable. 
With  almost  mushroom  growth,  gracefulness  appeared  in  England ;  and, 
at  the  next  exhibition,  the  energy  inspired  had  even  outdone  the  rival. 
Beauty  had  become  more  common,  and  grace  in  usefulness  more  abun- 
dant, in  the  manufactures  of  England,  than  any  other  nation.  America 
has  nothing  in  her  manufactures  to  be  ashamed  of,  but  nevertheless  much 
to  learn.  It  is  one  of  the  fairest  omens  for  ultimate  success,  that  the  lead- 
ing manufacturing  interests  of  the  State  have  already  bestowed  a  hearty 
welcome  upon  the  institution,  and  will  join  in  a  permanent  exhibition 
under  its  auspices,  to  which  display  the  entire  first  floor  of  the  building 
occupied  as  the  museum  will  be  devoted.  Classes  in  perspective-drawing, 
in  the  decoration  of  stoneware  and  pottery  designed  for  household  use, 
and  in  the  manufacture  of  point  and  Macrame  lace,  have  already  been 
formed ;  and  instruction  in  other  branches  will,  before  long,  be  given. 

The  Hartford  branch  of  the  Ladies'  Decorative  Art  Society  is  also  a 
noteworthy  item  in  the  art-history  of  Connecticut.  In  June,  1877,  fifty 
ladies  met  in  a  private  parlor  to  discuss  the  propriety  of  such  a  league 
in  Hartford.    There  being  no  demand  for  a  society  for  the  disposal  of 


i6 


Art  and  Artists  in  Connecticut, 


the  decorative  work  of  the  poor,  it  was  at  last  decided  feasible  to  change 
the  general  design  till  it  should  be  for  instruction  in  matters  pertaining  to 
decorative  arts,  and  make  the  experiment.  This  was  done  in  the  fall  of 
1877,  a  number  of  ladies  guaranteeing  to  meet  the  expenses  for  three 
months  in  case  of  failure.  Instruction  in  various,  branches  of  art  was 
begun,  and  at  once  enthusiastically  patronized.  At  the  end  of  three 
months  it  was  found  to  have  been  not  only  self-supporting,  but  to  number 
one  hundred  and  fourteen  members,  and  have  a  considerable  surplus  in 
the  treasury. 

WATER-COLOR  PAINTING. 

Before  the  advance  of  photography,  miniature-portrait  painting  has 
almost  disappeared.  The  work  was  the  painting  of  a  small  portrait,  often 
on  ivory,  sometimes  on  paper  or  other  material.  The  general  size  was 
somewhat  smaller  than  the  photographed  head  popular  to-day,  and  effected 
through  the  medium  of  water-colors.  A  most  interesting  and  instructive 
description  of  this  work  was  given  the  world  in  1833  by  Thomas  S.  Cum- 
mings,  so  long  and  intimately  connected  with  the  National  Academy  of 
Design  in  New  York,  now  resident  in  Mansfield,  Conn.  This  valuable 
essay  on  miniature  portrait-painting  is  preserved  in  William  Dunlap's 
History  of  the  Arts  of  Design."  To  it  nothing  of  worth  can  be  added. 
Water-color  on  ivory  is  comparatively  lost  ;  but  water-color  painting  as  a 
branch  of  art  is  steadily  increasing  in  popularity.  It  has  excited  much 
enthusiasm  in  England,  where  it  has  been  carried  to  a  high  state  of  per- 
fection ;  and  the  fashion  has  taken  a  firm  hold  upon  students  in  America, 
Many  of  the  sons  of  Connecticut  have  become  of  repute  in  the  art ;  and  it 
may  not  be  out  of  place  to  add  here,  not  a  discussion  of  any  of  the  ques- 
tions raised  upon  the  subject,  but  a  brief  explanation  of  the  peculiarities 
of  the  comparatively  little-known  water-color  painting. 

The  branch  is  entirely  distinct,  and  yet  closely  akin  to  oil-painting. 
The  difference  in  material  consists  in  the  vehicle  used  for  the  conveyance 
of  the  color,  and  the  ground  upon  which  the  work  is  done.  The  colors 
are  originally  the  same  ;  one  being  mixed  with  oil,  the  other  prepared  and 
applied  with  water.  Oil  must,  in  the  nature  of  things,  change  to  some 
extent  the  original  color  in  mixing  and  drying.  Water  evaporates,  leaving 
the  pure  color  as  applied  ;  thus  allowing  the  artist  to  proceed  with  his 
work  till  completed,  without  waiting  for  one  color  to  dry  in  order  to  apply 
the  brush  again,  or  taking  the  picture  with  him  to  his  studio  to  finish 
from  memory.  It  also  possesses  other  desirable  qualities  pre-eminently 
its  own.  It  obtains  a  great  advantage  from  its  transparency.  The  paper 
and  the  ground-color  naturally  affect  the  finish;  giving  a  peculiar  lumi 


Water-  Color  Painting, 


17 


nous  quality,  a  purity  of  tint  and  depth  of  tone,  in  response  to  rapid  work. 
In  oil,  much  time  is  spent  in  endeavors  to  produce  the  transparency,  the 
subtle  gradations,  and  possible  atmospheric  effects,  that  comparatively 
form  themselves  in  water-color.  The  beauties  that  are  characteristic  of 
water-colors,  and  in  a  sense  unattainable  in  oil,  are  invariably  in  the  thin, 
pearly  lights,  where  the  absence  of  heaviness  peculiar  to  water  is  found. 
The  question  as  to  the  propriety  of  the  use  of  body-colors,  which  is  becom- 
ing popular,  is  unsettled.  Water-color  has  beauties  of  its  own,  which  oil 
instinctively  endeavors  to  catch  ;  and  the  more  prominently  those  charms 
are  perfected,  the  more  consistently  beautiful  is  the  painting.  No  one 
ever  watched  an  oil  and  water  color  side  by  side,  as  twilight  darkened, 
without  detecting  another  beauty  peculiar  to  the  water.  It  will  hold  the 
light,  and  express  itself  in  exquisite  delicacy,  long  after  the  other  has 
faded  into  darkness.  Naturally  greater  care  must  be  taken  to  protect  the 
water-color  than  is  necessary  in  the  case  of  oil ;  but,  once  protected,  one 
would  hardly  suggest  that  it  is  not  permanent,  with  the  cartoons  of 
Raphael,  the  great  works  of  Michael  Angelo,  and  the  famous  frescos  of 
Fra  Bartolommeo,  fresh  and  well-defined,  whose  oil-paintings  are  hard, 
faint,  and  feeble.  Miniatures  and  water-colored  ornaments  that  have  sur- 
vived twice  the  number  of  years  of  the  oldest  oil-paintings  are  to-day  in 
better  condition.  Ancient  illuminated  manuscripts  are  another  good 
example  of  the  durability  of  water-color ;  and  the  frescos  of  Giotto,  in  the 
Campo  Santo  of  Pisa,  which,  exposed  as  they  are  to  the  open  air,  are  still 
fresh  in  color  and  distinct,  though  the  walls  on  which  they  are  painted  are 
crumbling.  Even  so  near  our  own  day  as  Turner,  to  compare  his  oil  and 
water  painting  is  argument  enough  in  favor  of  the  durability  of  water- 
color.  These  examples  also  illustrate  the  words  of  the  ancients,  so  often 
ridiculed  by  modern  philosophers  upon  the  subject,  that  oil-colors  were 
for  women  and  children,  and  water  for  men. 

It  would  be  unjust  to  charge  upon  this  any  derogation  of  the  sublime 
arf  of  oil-painting.  Work  may  be  done  in  oil  which  cannot  be  approxi- 
mated in  water.  It  may  be  that  there  is  yet  some  missing  law,  which, 
when  discovered,  shall  render  oil  powerless  as  water  as  a  vehicle  of  color, 
preserving  the  masterly  work  of  the  day  fresh  and  beautiful  as  when  first 
lifted  from  the  easel.  There  is  a  lively  piquancy  and  effective  brilliancy 
in  water  that  oil  cannot  well  render,  giving  it  great  value  for  sketching ; 
but  there  is  an  elaboration,  a  boldness  of  touch  and  manipulation,  a 
minuteness  of  detail,  which  fits  oil-color  for  the  conveyance  of  the  great- 
est, the  most  complex,  the  most  sublime  thoughts  of  art.-  A  glass  over  a 
water-color  is  fortunately  necessary  ;  for  it  improves  it.  A  glass  before  an 
oil-painting  destroys  the  effect  of  that  very  delicacy  and  freedom  which  is 


i8 


Art  and  Artists  in  Connecticut. 


its  peculiar  perfection.  It  is  evidently  the  servant  of  man's  most  definite 
individuality,  and  should  be  made  the  most  enduring  monument  of  his 
glory. 

EDUCATION  IN  ART. 

A  passion  for  pictures  is,  not  without  truth,  a  distinguishing  trait  of 
man  from  beast ;  but  to  know  a  good  picture  from  a  poor  one  is  the  result 
of  the  highest  civilization.  Ruskin  pointedly  remarks,  have  no  doubt, 
that,  as  we  grow  gradually  wiser,  we  shall  discover  at  last  that  the  eye 
is  a  nobler  organ  than  the  ear ;  and  that  through  the  eye  we  must,  in 
reality,  obtain  and  put  into  form  all  the  useful  information  we  are  to  have 
in  this  world." 

Education  is  required  no  less  by  the  public  than  by  the  artist.  It  is 
required  by  both.  The  facilities  for  obtaining  it  in  either  case  are  sadly 
deficient  in  America.  Unrivalled  genius,  unequalled  taste  and  suscepti- 
bility, and  the  most  perfect  eye,  would  be  almost  idly  wasted,  unless  care- 
fully educated.  They  must  be  possessed  of  a  culture  that  unfortunately 
cannot,  as  a  rule,  be  obtained  in  this  country.  The  young  man  of  promise 
goes  at  once  abroad,  because  he  cannot  —  which  is,  in  great  part,  due  to 
the  primary  fact  that  he  will  not  —  submit  himself  to  the  rigid  discipline 
at  home  that  there  he  accepts,  and  by  it  becomes  a  masterly  workman. 
Of  necessity,  he  returns  to  us,  if  at  all,  a  foreign  artist.  A  life-long  posi- 
tion at  his  easel  will  not  suffice  to  re-instate  American  originality  which 
has  been  so  laboriously  driven  out  of  him.  The  famous  Swapping 
Horses,"  so  thoroughly  characteristic  of  America,  so  purely  original,  has, 
doubtless,  its  faults.  They  are  faults  which  only  a  course  of  strictest 
study  could  overcome.  That  study  had  to  be  undertaken  abroad.  In  the 
course  of  it  American  originality  was  so  thoroughly  lost,  that  another 
picture  of  the  nature  of  the  first  was  impossible  to  the  artist  after  his 
return.  He  painted  better,  but  he  painted  as  a  European.  Schools  we 
must  have ;  and  a  complete  system  of  schools  is  what  we  can  have  only 
when  the  public  are  satisfied  to  sacrifice  their  passion  for  European  work, 
and  give  encouragement  to  educate  from  among  themselves  men  who  are 
perfectly  capable  of  being  masters  in  art.  Schools  with  voluntary  courses 
are  becoming  common  in  America  to-day.  The  pupil  practises  as  it  may 
please  him  upon  one  model  or  another,  in  one  style  or  another,  at  one 
hour  or  another,  under  one  teacher  or  another,  for  a  month  or  a  year. 
The  schools  we  need  are  such  as  our  students  of  France  and  England 
know,  where  the  grinding  and  the  grovelling  wipe  out  the  romance  and 
the  poetry  of  color  altogether,  till  the  first  steps  in  art  are  thoroughly 
mastered.    It  is  by  no  means  intended  to  assert  here  that  we  have  no 


Education  in  Art, 


19 


art-schools  ;  for  undoubtedly  we  have  some  that  are  very  superior.  Con- 
necticut may  well  pride  herself  upon  one  of  the  best  in  the  United  States  : 
but  their  dignity  is  low,  through  lack  of  appreciation ;  they  are  crippled 
by  prejudice  ;  they  are  injured  by  lack  of  patronage.  All  that  can  justly 
be  said  against  the  schools  of  America  is,  that  they  are  undeveloped. 

Connected  with  the  British  Royal  Academy  is  an  art  training-school, 
with  Edward  Armitage  as  professor  of  painting  ;  Weekes,  of  sculpture ; 
Barry  and  Spiers,  of  architecture ;  Calder  Marshall,  of  anatomy ;  Barff, 
of  chemistry ;  and  Bowler,  of  perspective.  The  South  Kensington  Mu- 
seum, established  in  1852  *'for  the  purpose  of  training  art  masters  and 
mistresses  for  the  United  Kingdom,"  to  use  the  words  of  the  founders,  is 
doubtless  the  most  remarkable  school  of  the  sort  in  Christendom.  Annual 
appropriations  from  Parliament  are  bestowed  upon  it :  and,  for  ten  months 
in  the  year,  day  and  evening  schools  are  in  full  operation,  with  two  com- 
plete outfits  of  models  and  apparatus ;  it  being  considered  both  wise  and 
well  that  male  and  female  students  should  study  art  separately.  There 
are  elementary  drawing-classes,  night-schools  for  artisans,  and  instruction 
in  all  of  the  higher  branches,  beside  the  training-school  for  teachers. 
They  have  competitive  examinations  of  a  most  searching  character,  that 
the  knowledge  gained  may  be  tested  upon  its  practical  side  in  its  scientific 
principles.  Allowances  are  made  for  the  maintenance  of  the  pupils  of 
from  one  hundred  and  fifty  to  four  hundred  dollars  annually,  and  the  grad- 
uate is  considered  qualified  to  teach  in  any  similar  school  in  the  kingdom. 
Members  of  the  extra  classes  alone  number  one  thousand  three  hundred. 
An  extensive  art-library  and  a  superb  ceramic  art  and  scientific  collection 
is  connected  with  the  museum,  as  well  as  a  distinct  collection  of  oil  and 
water-color  paintings.  In  short,  there  are  in  England  six  hundred  and 
seventy-five  art-schools,  instructing  fifty  thousand  pupils.  Corresponding 
examples  might  be  cited  from  Germany  and  France,  but  are  too  well 
known  to  admit  of  repetition. 

The  subject  of  art-education,  from  the  very  fact  that  some  attention 
is  already  paid  to  it  in  the  State,  becomes  one  of  special  importance. 
There  has  been  no  time  in  our  history  when  such  a  deep  interest  has  been 
taken  in  art  as  to-day.  He  may  not  claim  the  gift  of  prophecy  who  pre- 
dicts that  we  are  entering  upon  a  period  of  art-development  that  shall 
crystallize  the  chaotic  jumble,  and  reduce  to  a  system  the  unorganized 
resources  and  talent  of  the  land.  When  we  are  once  thoroughly  engaged 
upon  the  subject,  we  shall  create  art-schools,  that,  in  the  nature  of  things, 
will  become  superior  to  those  which  are  the  pride  of  the  Old  World  to-day. 
The  time  will  not  come  suddenly,  nor  yet  for  the  asking  ;  nor,  on  the  other 
hand,  will  it  come  if  we  sit  comfortably  watching  the  weathercock  and 


20 


Art  and  Artists  in  Connecticut, 


barometer.  Manifest  destinies  are  always  accomplished  by  the  meeting 
half  way  of  that  inexorable  "must  be,"  which  mysteriously  will  be,  and  yet 
can  be  only  by  the  will  of  free  agents.  Art  has  its  system  of  growth  and 
its  laws  of  life ;  but,  whatever  the  omens  may  foreshadow  and  the  oracles 
assert,  it  is  useless  to  look  for  an  important  progress  till  the  fountain  of 
enthusiasm  shall  take  its  source  in  the  hearts  of  the  people.  The  historic 
and  ethnic  principles  which  have  caused  the  present  European  schools 
need  not  be  repeated.  Spontaneity  is  the  soul  of  art,  individuality  its  life, 
intelligent  sympathy  its  inspiration  and  support. 

Progress  rests  with  individual,  non-professional  labor,  quite  as  much 
as  with  the  artist ;  yet  one  would  be  ridiculed  who  should  suggest  that  art 
in  all  its  branches  be  introduced  and  made  a  compulsory  study  in  our  pri- 
mary, grammar,  high  schools,  and  colleges.  But  while  it  may  be  an  exag- 
gerated view  that  any  one,  with  proper  instruction,  can  become  a  good 
vocalist,  or  an  entertaining  performer  upon  any  musical  instrument,  it 
may  be,  nay,  must  be,  conceded  that  none  but  a  blind  man  -can  study 
drawing  honestly  and  well  without  being  made  thereby,  in  a  sense,  an 
artist.  Every  good  picture  a  man  sees  elevates  his  taste  in  just  so  much 
as  he  gives  attention  to  it,  and  every  hour's  instruction  he  has  had  upon 
any  detail  of  the  art  makes  every  picture  so  much  more  an  open  book  to 
him.  It  enhances  his  interest,  instruction,  and  pleasure,  producing  an- 
other and'  ever-increasing  source  of  joy  that  nothing  can  eradicate.  This 
is  only  one  result,  and  a  minor  one,  of  introducing  the  arts  of  design  in  the 
simjDlest  form  into  a  common-school  education. 

Some  of  the  schools  of  Connecticut  have  already  branched  from  the 
prosaic  ''Reading,  'Riting,  and  'Rithmetic,"  with  the  timid  advance  of  an 
exploring-party ;  but  the  prophecy  is  ventured,  that  the  time  approaches 
when  these  pioneers  will  be  enthusiastically  followed  after  a  fashion  that 
shall  make  the  ghosts  of  the  ferule-armed  masters  of  the  old  red  school- 
houses  stare  in  consternation.  Every  child  that  lives  to  study  the  three 
immortal  R's  "  will  also  have  a  sound  introductory  knowledge  of  that 
which  is  in  them  all  and  over  them  all. 

Long  before  the  history  of  art  in  the  State  begins,  when  those  who  had 
trodden  Plymouth  Rock  gathered  on  the  shores  of  the  Connecticut,  the 
school  was  uppermost  in  their  minds.  Almost  the  first  laws  enacted 
regulated  the  system  of  instruction,  and  the  ability  of  the  master  who 
must  be  employed,  under  penalty  of  a  heavy  fine.  Necessarily  the  fine 
arts  took  no  position  in  their  calculations.  Naturally  they  were  by  them 
considered  a  frivolous  pastime ;  a  knowledge  to  be  shunned  rather  than 
courted.  They  must  build  cabin-walls  with  logs  as  best  the  logs  would 
build  them.    They  must  paste  their  walls  over  with  mud  quickly  and  dura- 


Education  in  Art. 


21 


bly.  They  had  no  time  to  cover  them  with  canvases.  But  these  primitive 
notions  are  items  of  history,  and  better  so.  We  have  another  life  to  deal 
with,  a  higher  story  to  build  upon  the  excellent  foundation  they  laid  for  us. 
It  has  been  too  long  the  fault  of  common-school  systems,  that  too  much 
time  was  bestowed  upon  the  past,  too  little  upon  the  present  and  the 
future.  Men's  capabilities  lie  buried  in  them,  and  are  oftener  discovered 
when  sought  for  than  forced  upon  the  notice  of  the  heedless,  ignorant 
possessor. 

It  is  not  alone  for  the  making  of  the  artists,  or  the  creating  of  intelli- 
gent admirers  of  painting  and  sculpture,  that  a  knowledge  of  art  is  desira- 
ble :  it  is  the  making  of  men.  It  is  not  an  over-statement,  that  whatever 
position  in  life  a  man  be  able  to  fill,  from  the  humblest  artisan  to  the  most 
opulent  aristocrat,  he  can  more  enjoyably  and  more  profitably  fill  it  for 
possessing  a  knowledge  of  the  arts  of  design.  Logically,  the  comprehen- 
sion of  any  creation,  be  it  simple  or  intricate,  a  fork  and  knife  or  an  electric 
system,  tends  to  its  best  adaptation  to  individual  or  public  needs.  Artists 
themselves  are  a  good  example.  They  are  not  non-utilitarian.  Proverbi- 
ally, the  greatest  inventors  of  the  world  have  been  artists.  This,  it  is  said 
in  explanation,  is  because  their  faculties  of  invention  are  always  in  activity 
before  the  canvas,  and,  naturally  developed  by  much  exercise,  occasionally 
leap  from  the  confines  of  the  easel.  But  it  is  shallow  reasoning.  The 
explanation  is  deeper  than  that,  and  at  the  root  of  this  demand  for  instruc- 
tion in  art.  They  are  of  the  chosen  few,  who,  having  possessed  themselves 
of  a  degree  of  knowledge,  have  intelligently  studied  form  and  fashion,  the 
nature  of  things,  and  the  adaptability  of  inanimate  figure  and  combination 
to  the  production  of  grand  results,  real  and  ideal,  and  the  creation  of  that 
which  shall  express  the  greatest  thoughts,  and  most  naturally  meet  the 
necessities  of  mankind. 

For  centuries,  universities  have  labored  to  add  to  the  mass  of  informa- 
tion attainable  within  their  walls.  They  have  gathered  any  thing  and 
every  thing  that  might  promise  to  satisfy  the  greedy  hunger  of  the  seeker 
after  knowledge.  Nevertheless,  it  has  become  suggestively  clearer  with 
every  age,  that  we  owe  to  those  outside  the  influences  of  universities,  who 
have  by  force,  not  encouragement,  made  of  their  minds  creative  instead  of 
dumbly  receptive  organs,  most  of  the  advantages,  privileges,  and  pleasures 
of  our  existence  over  that  of  the  South-sea  Islander.  One  style  of  culti- 
vation is  eminently  desirable  :  the  other  is  positively  indispensable.  Both 
must  be  combined  to  complete  the  circle,  and  this  combination  is  inevitable. 

What  to-day  is  stigmatized  as  "learning  a  trade,"  for  instance,  will 
some  day,  in  a  much  more  extended  and  exalted  form,  be  one  result  of  a 
common-school  and  college  education.    People  will  discover  that  the  lowest 


22 


Art  and  Artists  in  Connecticut, 


and  the  highest  occupations  of  man  are  one  and  the  same,  after  all,  —  ex- 
pressions of  the  arts  of  design,  in  which  there  is  a  place  and  a  labor  for 
every  man  that  breathes.  This  place  he  needs  but  education  to  be  able  to 
fill.  Acquainted  with  art,  he  becomes  a  master  instead  of  a  slave ;  an 
artist,  a  workman^  than  which  there  is  nothing  nobler  or  more  divine;  a 
creative  being,  possessing  in  himself  infinite  resources  of  satisfaction,  and 
possibilities  of  eternal  progression.  Men  will  discover  that  they  are  capa- 
ble of  producing,  —  a  fact  which  few  realize  to-day.  By  broadening  the 
basis  of  education  till  it  shall  comprehend  the  elements  of  art,  we  shall  do 
away  with  the  accidental  stumbling  through  which  all  great  creators  have 
attained  their  greatness.  We  shall  have  placed  within  the  reach  of  all  the 
first  stepping-stones  to  useful  and  ornamental  careers  ;  prevented  the  igno- 
rant wasting  of  human  power,  the  misdirecting  of  human  life,  the  tempta- 
tions of  helplessness,  unproductiveness,  and  idleness,  to  immorality  and 
vice. 

It  must  be  remembered  here,  that  no  education  is  intended  to  make  a 
master.  It  is  not  the  end  of  study.  It  gives  the  methods,  and  indicates 
the  means.  It  produces  possibilities,  and  offers  them  universally.  To 
return  directly  to  the  arts  of  design,  examples  are  endless  of  the  great 
benefit  derived  from  popular  instruction.  For  ages,  in  the  common  schools 
of  Greece,  the  youths  were  trained  in  both  theory  and  practice  in  the 
plastic  art ;  and  the  result  was  Phidias  and  Apelles.  Men  of  all  ranks  and 
classes  were  long  trained  in  art  in  modern  Italy,  preparing  the  way  for 
Raphael,  Michael  Angclo,  and  Leonardo  da  Vinci.  A  nation  of  individuals 
possessing  an  independent  opinion  of  works  of  art  also  naturally  puts  a 
veto  upon  abortive  productions.  So  long  as  people  will  buy  poor  pictures, 
there  will  be  lazy  artists  glad  enough  to  supply  them.  When  there  is  no 
market  for  such, — and  there  will  be  none  so  soon  as  people  are  well 
enough  educated  in  art  to  know  the  poor  picture  from  the  good  one,  —  as  a 
matter  of  course  there  will  be  no  more  poor  pictures.  Thus,  in  a  double 
sense,  art-education  in  the  common  school  and  university  would  throw  the 
burden  of  magnifying  the  nation's  ability  upon  men  of  talent,  and  force 
them  to  kneel  humbly  and  patiently  to  Art,  till  she  knelt  to  them,  and 
acknowledged  them  master.  It  would  stimulate  the  bone  and  sinew  of  the 
country.  It  would  produce  from  the  same  material  better  workmen  than 
the  foreign  schools,  and  at  once  preserve  to  the  United  States  not  only  the 
great  native  genius,  but  a  well-defined  originality. 

William  Hazlitt,  the  English  table-talker,  said,  I  would  rather  leave 
a  good  portrait  behind  me  than  a  good  biography  ;  for  many  circumstances 
might  conspire  to  prejudice  one  who  should  read  the  biography,  but 
nothing  could  tinge  the  portrait  but  the  character  of  the  man  it  por- 


The  True  Artist  and  his  Work, 


23 


trayed."  None  the  less  is  it  wise  for  each  generation,  as  it  comes  and 
goes,  to  leave  its  most  important  record,  not  in  history,  romance,  and 
poetry,  that  may  be  twisted,  mangled,  and  garbled  by  fashion  and  preju- 
dice, but  in  art,  that  cannot  change ;  and  to  this  end  responsibility  rests 
upon  every  loyal  citizen. 

It  should  not,  however,  be  understood  that  lack  of  education  on  the  part 
of  the  public,  and  want  of  sympathetic  encouragement  for  the  artist,  are  the 
only  causes  for  an  apparent  lack  of  original  art  in  America.  The  fine  arts 
do  not  pioneer.  Painting  and  sculpture  cannot  keep  pace  with  advancing 
civihzation,  but  of  necessity  must  be  the  very  last  and  highest  refinement 
to  be  exposed.  They  are  the  fruit,  not  of  excitement  and  necessity,  but  of 
repose.  It  is  a  fact  which  none  would  attempt  to  deny,  that  there  is  but 
little  originality  as  yet  to  distinguish  the  art-life  of  America.  In  sculpture 
we  are  deficient.  In  painting  we  still  "look  up."  In  architecture  we  have 
produced  but  a  bastard  jumble.  But  in  defence  be  it  urged,  we  are  young. 
We  are  composed,  in  the  greater  part,  of  emigrants  from  other  nations,  — 
the  least  artistic  of  every  community.  Our  fields  are  not  yet  half  of  them 
planted  :  shall  we  carve  marble  well  before  we  have  completed  the  plough- 
share We  have  not  roofs  enough  to  cover  the  thousands  flocking  hither- 
ward  from  everywhere  :  shall  we  devote  our  energy  to  monuments  and 
arches,  graceful  presentations  and  grand  effects,  before  we  have  prepared  a 
place  to  lay  our  heads  The  promise  in  America  is  great,  the  possibilities 
unlimited.  Scarce  a  hundred  years  have  passed  since  the  fine  arts  found  a 
first  footing  in  native  soil :  yet  Connecticut  has  already  produced  more  than 
one  man  of  whom  it  may  well  be  said  that 

"  All  the  world  was  proud  that  he  was  born ;  " 

and  hardly  a  year  passes  but  higher  steps  are  taken,  offering  every  encour- 
agement to  the  fullest,  freest  confidence  in  hope  of  further  progress. 

THE  TRUE  ARTIST  AND  HIS  WORK. 

In  conclusion  of  this  general  review,  it  may  be  allowed  to  add  a  few 
suggestions  of  common  observation  upon  merits  and  faults  in  artists  and 
their  work.  The  great  labor  of  art,  as  already  argued,  is  to  civilize  and 
moralize.  That  artist  most  fully  realizes  art  who  tunes  by  it  his  own  spirit- 
ual nature.  That  artist  most  fully  expresses  art  who  makes  it  an  important 
factor  in  the  common  good.  A  work  of  art  is  grand  and  true  as  it  pro- 
duces emotions  which  are  ennobling  and  elevating.  By  this  standard  all 
results  of  the  artist's  labor  may  safely  be  measured.  '*Jan  Steen,"  it  is 
said,  "found  the  talk  of  the  ale-house  favorable  to  his  painting  of  pot-house 


24 


Art  and  Artists  in  Connecticut, 


brawls  ;"  but  it  is  the  glory  of  ennobling  art,  that  it  cannot  be  gathered  out 
of  corruption.  Minor  works,  executed  only  as  a  pastime  or  relaxation,  of 
narrower  range  and  import  than  the  great  works  that  stamp  a  country's 
genius,  cannot,  of  course,  be  graded  as  low  or  high  art  precisely  as  they  fill, 
or  fail  to  fill,  this  requirement ;  but  the  tendency  of  the  great  artist  is  to 
great  work,  no  matter  how  limited  his  subject.  While  the  lowest  art  is 
"the  subordination  of  nothing  to  nothing,"  it  is  emptiness  and  nonentity 
elaborated  without  object  or  design  ;  and  all  forms  and  degrees  of  low  art 
savor  of  this  principle.  Our  country  is  literally  flooded  to-day  with  mer- 
cantile specimens  both  of  European  and  American  painting,  not  art ;  not 
imbecile  abortions,  that  fall  dead  at  birth,  but  specimens,  unfortunately, 
more  popular  than  the  true-born  child  of  art, — damaging,  demoralizing 
specimens. 

The  artist  who  endeavors  to  represent  ideas,  whether  successfully  or 
otherwise,  is,  in  proportion  to  his  success,  a  benefactor  to  his  nation.  The 
spirit  and  design  of  the  picture  are  of  vastly  more  importance  than  the 
finish.  Finish,  in  fact,  is  what  no  work  of  high  art  ever  attained.  It  is 
the  picture  painted  to  sell,  the  picture  that  unfortunately  does  sell,  that  is 
finished.  That  work  which  is  an  inspiration  to  the  mind  of  every  intelli- 
gent observer  is  not,  cannot  in  justice  to  nature  be,  complete  in  itself,  or 
itself  complete.  He  who  bows  to  the  people  paints  for  them  a  pretty 
picture,  with  bright  colors,  senseless  figures,  unity  without  life,  law  without 
love,  and  fine  polish  arranged  in  every  detail.  He  to  whom  the  people 
must  bow,  if  not  to-day  with  their  purses  in  their  hands,  then  to-morrow 
with  a  laurel  crown,  is  the  artist  who  has  shunned  the  allurements  of 
this  fancy,  and  endeavored  to  reproduce  emotion  and  idea  from  the  pure 
motive  of  love  that  has  been  kindled  in  his  own  breast ;  whose  lights  have 
something  to  illumine,  whose  shadows  something  to  relieve.  Thought  is 
every  thing,  even  to  a  portrait-painter.  There  is  much  truth  in  that  jesting 
praise,  *^It  looks  as  though  it  could  speak."  There  is  a  compliment 
imbued  with  a  profounder  truth  in  the  words,  It  seems  to  think."  The 
height  of  portraiture,  of  art,  in  fact,  is  doubtless  to  produce  that  which 
thinks,  or  sets  others  thinking.  Whether  in  painting  or  sculpture,  that  man 
who  has  not  a  thought  in  himself,  he  who  is  not  original,  never  can  be  an 
enduring  artist.  He  who  does  ncc  add  to  that  originality  culture,  power 
of  expression,  will  profit  little  by  it.  As  every  thing  that  is  elevating  is 
noble  and  pure,  he  cannot  make  the  great  artist,  whom  the  people  must 
acknowledge  as  prince  in  the  brotherhood,  who  attempts  the  highest  walks 
until  impelled  thereto  by  lofty  thought  and  the  purest  conceptions  of  the 
true  and  the  beautiful.  "A  good  tree  cannot  bring  forth  evil  fruit, 
neither  can  a  corrupt  tree  bring  forth  good  fruit."    Every  thing  little. 


The  True  Artist  and  his  Work. 


25 


mean,  or  low,  must  be  exorcised  from  the  mind  of  him  who  would  be  a 
great  artist.  That  which  satisfies  merely  the  fancy  bows  to  a  fickle  sov- 
ereign. In  short,  that  art  is  the  highest,  that  style  is  the  grandest,  that 
does  not  satify  any  thing ;  which  is  only  suggestion,  it  may  be  either 
simple  or  profound;  which,  in  the  language  of  another,  ''produces  the 
greatest  number  of  ideas."  Art  is  a  jealous  mistress,  and  will  not  long 
abide  by  one  who  neglects  her :  hence,  possessing  all  other  good  qualities, 
he  who  is  not  diligent,  he  who  is  not  subservient,  he  with  whom  every 
^  circumstance  of  life  does  not  bend  to  art,  is  not  worthy  of  success. 

We  should  know  the  artist,  as  well  as  his  work,  to  whom  we  would  offer 
allegiance.  By  knowing  him,  we  shall  avoid  two  great  blunders,  —  that 
of  running  with  the  crowd  after  any  one  who  may  have  excited  it,  and  that 
of  falling  on  our  knees  before  a  man  scarcely  less  ignorant  of  art  than 
ourselves.  In  the  nature  of  things,  art  must  rely  upon  justice  for  ultimate 
success  ;  but  the  public  is  not  always  just.  In  matters  of  art  the  public  is 
grievously  ignorant.  People  do  not  take  time  to  consider,  but,  reliant 
upon  a  few  leaders,  laugh  and  cry  at  bidding,  quite  as  the  second  audience 
to  witness  "She  Stoops  to  Conquer"  —  though  the  first  had  hissed  it  from 
the  stage  —  was  forced  to  applaud  in  response  to  the  applause  of  a  promi- 
nent friend  of  Goldsmith,  who  volunteered  to  sit  in  the  first  box,  and 
literally  explain  the  play  by  vigorously  clapping  and  laughing  in  appro- 
priate places.  Turner  could  never  have  been  known  and  honored  as  he 
was  had  not  John  Ruskin  appeared  to  explain  him,  so  that  people  who 
would  not  take  the  time,  and  did  not  possess  the  ability,  to  judge,  might 
know  his  work  if  they  would  hear  his  interpreter.  It  is  all  the  more  a 
good  illustration,  if  it  be  true  that  Ruskin,  in  his  uncontrollable  enthusi- 
asm and  exuberance  of  language,  overdid  the  matter,  and  made  England 
think  there  was  a  divinity  in  Turner  which  he  never  possessed. 

Evidently  that  is  not  the  best  which  may  at  first  appear  so.  If  we 
cannot  judge  for  ourselves  of  the  merits  of  a  picture,  we  may  at  least  re- 
frain from  heedless  enthusiasm.  And  surely  a  history  of  artists  must  have 
this  good  effect,  that,  knowing  the  man,  we  may  at  least  be  able  to  curb  our 
judgments  of  his  work.  ''  Out  of  the  abundance  of  the  heart  the  mouth 
speaketh."  Apparently  this  is  even  truer  of  the  artist  and  his  brush.  The 
tongue  can  deceive:  the  brush,  as  a  matter  of  enduring  fact,  cannot 
deceive  if  truly  studied.  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds  clothed  this  thought  most 
perfectly  when  he  said,  The  chief  end  toward  which  every  good  artist 
strives  is  to  be  able  to  place  himself  so  perfectly  upon  his  canvas,  that  he 
who  looks  at  it  shall  see  his  thoughts  precisely  as  he  thought  them."  A 
living  artist  has  said  very  truly,  "  The  highest  art  is  where  there  has  been 
.  most  perfectly  breathed  the  sentiment  of  humanity." 


26 


Art  and  Artists  in  Con^tecticut, 


"  We  receive  but  what  we  give, 
And  in  our  life  alone  does  Nature  live." 

Consistency  is  another  vital  necessity  to  the  best  works  of  art,  and 
consequently  to  the  artist.  In  the  lavish  variety  of  the  most  impulsive 
genius  there  must  yet  be  a  fidelity  and  unity,  or,  being  inconsistent,  though 
honest  perhaps,  it  can  never  be  trustworthy. 

It  is  no  design  of  this  argument  to  convey  a  suggestion  that  art  is 
religious,  or  artists  gods  ;  though  that  theory  is,  in  a  degree,  held  by  able 
men.  It  is  emphatically  denounced  as  an  error.  Art  is  always  moral : 
religion  may  be  very  immoral.  Religion  deals  with  the  true  or  the 
untrue  :  art  deals  with  the  beautiful.  Religion  is  in  fact  truth,  or  truth 
distorted :  art  is  beauty.  Truth  is  for  the  reason  :  beauty  is  for  the 
emotion.  Truth  is  the  strength :  beauty  is  the  grace.  Truth  builds : 
beauty  finishes.  ^Esthetic  feelings  are  often  mistaken  for  religious  feel- 
ings, but  at  cost  of  a  great  error.  The  true  and  the  beautiful  belong 
together  for  the  perfection  of  life;  but  they  are  not  one,  nor  can  they  be. 

It  is  a  proverb  in  art,  that  every  beauty  is  never  expressed  in  any  one 
model.  It  is  equally  probable  that  all  the  requirements  for  the  perfect 
artist  will  never  be  gathered  in  one  man.  Sometimes  a  poor  draughts- 
man ot  a  poor  colorist,  or  a  man  lacking  in  a  part  of  the  spiritual  require- 
ments, may  take  a  high  position.  The  nearer  the  ideal,  of  course  the 
higher  the  rank.  Copying,  in  the  sense  of  reproducing  another's  picture, 
is  here  purposely  ignored.  It  is  simply  parroting  in  art,  which  any  one 
with  a  knowledge  of  colors  can  indulge  in.    Imitation  is  not  art. 

Knowledge,  as  previously  urged,  is  the  thing  most  lacking  in  America. 
Without  it,  culture  is  as  helpless  as  a  sword  in  the  hand  of  a  paralytic. 
The  advancement  lately  made,  however,  in  the  science  of  the  relation  of 
things,  gives  ample  promise  of  a  brilliant  future  in  the  United  States  for 
painting  and  sculpture.  In  landscape  especially  we  may  find  excellent 
work  in  America,  even  when  compared  with  the  best  that  Europe  can 
produce.  This  is  a  natural  result  of  circumstances.  There  is  more  of 
landscape  than  of  any  thing  else  in  a  new  country.  Nature  is  perfect, 
and,  in  truth,  the  only  thing  that  approaches  perfection.  Since  the  time 
of  Constable  and  Turner,  landscape-painting  has  been  almost  deserted  in 
England.  It  has  degenerated  into  a  feeble  mannerism.  The  German 
school  of  landscape-painting  is  hardly  worthy  the  name.  It  is  not  only  out- 
rageously mannered,  but  of  wholly  mechanical  mannerism.  Landscape  at 
the  best  is  chiefly  the  outgrowth  of  the  modern  aesthetic  mind.  It  cannot 
be  expected  of  it  that  it  will  always  hold  the  position  it  has  attained  in 
America.  Other  perfections  will  come  before  the  aspiring  student  as  for- 
cibly as  Nature  now  presents  the  landscape.    It  should  not  argue  against 


The  True  Artist  and  his  Work. 


27 


the  skill  and  rank  of  an  artist  in  America,  though  it  often  is  thoughtlessly- 
allowed  to,  that  he  is  not  a  landscape-painter,  simply  because  that  is  the 
prevailing  fashion  of  the  day.  Of  the  manner  of  painting,  no  less  than  the 
subject,  is  this  true.  Whatever  pigment  an  artist  use,  whatever  his  model 
may  be,  it  argues  nothing  but  the  bent  of  his  personal  taste.  We  must 
look  at  his  work  in  the  abstract  as  though  it  were  the  only  work  in  Chris- 
tendom, put  ourselves  in  the  artist's  place,  think  with  him,  see  with  him, 
in  order  to  correctly  judge  his  work. 

The  art-education  of  the  painter  is  also  of  great  importance.  There 
are  what  are  variously  termed  born  artists,  native  prodigies,  self-taught 
painters.  Occasional  supposed  representatives  of  this  class,  by  a  brilliant 
career,  have  added  glory  to  the  titles.  But  it  is  hardly  for  the  artist  him- 
self to  say  that  he  is  self-taught,  much  less  his  biographer ;  for  education, 
more  especially  art-education,  may  be  a  subtly-administered  blessing.  A 
good  picture  under  favorable  circumstances,  a  word,  an  example,  may  have 
carried  years  of  study  in  a  single  impression.  Such  incidents  will  often 
account  for  the  mysteries  of  unschooled  success.  The  rule  remains,  that 
but  a  limited  degree  of  excellence  is  attainable  without  careful  instruction. 
Nature  produces  the  apt  scholar :  she  can  do  no  more.  Laws  and  prin- 
ciples are  neither  mysteriously  planted  in  native  soil,  nor  will  they  spring- 
up  there  at  hap-hazard.  The  faithful  student  is  he  who  wins  the  long  race 
in  art.  With  this  same  thought  occurs  the  value  of  a  life-long  labor. 
George  Eliot  touched  very  lightly  a  profound  truth  in  the  course  of  her 
story  of  "Daniel  Deronda,"  where  she  presents  the  advice  given  by  Herr 
Klesmer  to  Gwendolen  after  financial  disaster  had  driven  her  to  resolve 
upon  entering  the  stage.  The  greatest  characters  in  every  profession, 
the  world  over,  are  those  who  have  knelt  as  devotees  from  childhood. 
There  are  exceptions  to  this  rule,  and  it  is  by  no  means  to  the  dishonor  of 
an  artist  that  he  took  up  his  brush  late  in  life.  But  in  itself  it  is  a  recom- 
mendation for  one  in  any  profession,  most  of  all  in  art,  that  the  position 
is  the  outgrowth  of  a  life  of  industry. 

A  good  artist  must  be  physically  a  brave  man.  It  is  easy  to  follow  a 
beaten  path,  to  copy  another,  if  not  in  exact  outline,  in  thought,  in  man- 
ner, and  in  character ;  but  he  only  becomes  a  true  artist  who  dares  break 
from  the  restraining  conventionalities  imbibed  with  education.  He  is  a 
bold  man  who  stands  upon,  rather  than  in,  the  subtle  influence  of  patron- 
age. He  must  be  independent  and  courageous  who  would  not  sacrifice 
originality  to  the  public's  whim  and  the  critic's  fancy.  That  an  artist  is 
poor,  is  no  sign  that  he  is  not  talented ;  that  he  is  not  popular,  is  not, 
unfortunately,  an  infallible  indication  that  he  is  not  superior  to  many  who 
are  receiving  praise  of  the  people.    It  is  not  safe  to  form  judgments  in 


28 


Art  and  Artists  in  Connecticut. 


matters  of  art  on  the  opinions  of  others,  nor  is  it  safe  to  arrive  at  a  conclu- 
sion through  ignorant  fancy.  Mile,  de  Fauveau,  a  celebrated  young  artist 
of  the  political-persecution  days  of  France,  curtly  wrote  to  a  friend,  **We 
artists  are  like  the  Hebrews  of  old  :  manna  is  sent  us  daily,  but  on  the 
condition  that  we  save  none  for  to-morrow." 

Desirable  qualities  are  not  invariably  backed  by  an  enthusiasm  that 
will  thrust  them  forward  against  all  opposition  and  neglect.  There  is 
murder  in  a  word  at  times.  The  possessor  of  any  artistic  talent  should 
be  protected  by  the  people,  not  buffeted  by  them.  The  bootblack,  the 
office-boy,  the  clerk,  the  dreaming  schoolgirl,  may  shelter  unnoticed  a 
flame  of  art  that  is  destined  to  be  a  brilliant  light  in  the  future,  unless 
hidden  under  the  bushel  of  neglect.  Any  genuine  talent  is  worthy  the 
freest  sympathy  of  every  intelligent  citizen. 

With  this  the  biographical  sketches  are  presented.  Not  that  the  sub- 
ject of  art  in  the  abstract  has  been  comprehended,  scarcely  apprehended. 
It  were  a  fatal  struggle  to  endeavor  to  comprehend  that  which  is  limitless. 
Nor  has  an  exhaustive  treatise  been  attempted  :  that  might  well  be  pro- 
nounced a  failure.  What  has  been  given  is  all  that  was  desirable,  —  sim- 
ply the  basis  upon  which  opinions  and  suggestions  that  may  follow  will  be 
founded. 


ARTISTS  OF  CONNECTICUT. 


'ATURALLY,  the  oldest,  or  more  properly  the  youngest  artists,  — 


those  identified  with  the  earliest  days,  —  are  in  proportion  the  most 
unsatisfactory  subjects  of  research,  with  records  very  difficult  to  obtain, 
there  being  but  a  single  authentic  history  of  the  early  days  of  art  in 
America.  Naturally,  too,  if  there  be  any  disputed  details,  they  will  occur 
among  the  first.  The  channels  to  celebrity  were  less  available  a  hundred 
and  fifty  years  ago,  and  the  means  of  becoming  permanently  known  out 
of  the  reach  of  any  but  undisputed  prodigies.  The  occupation  of  the 
artist  especially  was  far  inferior  in  the  public  mind  to  that  of  many  other 
men.  He  was  but  little  better  than  a  beggar  and  an  itinerant,  stopping 
at  door  and  door  for  work ;  a  boarder,  and  often  an  unwelcome  boarder, 
where  he  painted,  in  the  majority  of  cases.  Though  we  know  that  there 
were  talented  artists  in  America  a  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago,  we  know 
them  more  by  what  we  see  than  by  what  we  hear.  Very  indefinite  knowl- 
edge, derived  almost  entirely  from  his  works,  is  all  that  now  remains  of 
one  of  the  first  painters  of  rank  of  America,  — 


So  soon  as  the  works  of  Mr.  Blackburn,  having  lain  almost  forgotten 
for  a  century  and  more,  began  to  revive  in  popularity,  a  disagreement 
arose  among  his  admirers  regarding  the  origin  of  the  man  ;  which,  from 
the  length  of  time  since  he  was  forgotten,  will  probably  always  remain  a 
disagreement.  This  is  the  more  unfortunate,  because  much  of  his  work  is 
to-day  highly  valued  for  its  intrinsic  worth,  even  when  compared  with  the 
accomplishments  of  art  that  have  followed  it.  At  least  thirty  portraits  of 
Mr.  Blackburn's  painting  are  owned  in  Boston,  where  he  painted  either 
with  or  directly  after  Smybert,  and  for  some  time  following  (i.e.,  from 
about  1745).  Some  of  his  paintings  are  still  owned  in  Connecticut,  and 
others  that  must  have  been  painted  in  the  State  have  migrated  with  the 
course  of  empire.    Among  them  is  a  large  painting  of  Gov.  Saltonstall's 


J.   B.  BLACKBURN. 


so 


Art  and  Artists  in  Connecticut. 


family  (four  of  his  children),  arranged  about  a  table.  It  is  agreeable 
in  design,  and  finely  painted ;  good  in  its  tone  and  drawing ;  and  indeed 
quite  remarkable  throughout,  considering  the  circumstances.  The  flesh- 
tints  are  neither  crude,  thin,  nor  pale,  but  show  a  strong  sense  of  the 
beauty  of  flesh  ;  while  his  draperies  are  striking  for  ease  and  grace  of  line 
and  mass,  his  background  admirable  for  strength  and  clearness.  These 
criticisms  will  apply  equally  to  the  most  of  his  work  now  known  to  the 
public.  William  H.  Whitmore,  in  his  Notes  on  Peter  Pelham,  says  of 
Blackburn,  "  In  his  day,  as  an  artist,  he  was  second  only  to  Copley." 
There  is  no  doubt  that  he  taught  John  Copley ;  and  members  of  the  Mas- 
sachusetts Historical  Society  advance  the  theory,  that  the  pupil,  improv- 
ing, rapidly  outdid  his  master,  and  literally  drove  him  away.  At  all 
events,  nothing  is  known  of  Blackburn,  either  in  Boston,  Connecticut,  or 
elsewhere,  after  1760.  He  seems  to  have  dropped  out,"  leaving  no  date 
either  of  death  or  departure.  Mr.  Dunlap,  the  historian  of  American  art, 
gives  up  the  task  of  penetrating,  and  leaves  the  artist  with  the  two-line 
remark,  that  he  painted  at  one  time  in  Boston,  and  painted  good  portraits. 
Tuckerman  at  greater  length  expresses  the  same  lack  of  information,  only 
diverging  to  speak  of  him  as  a  visiting  foreigner.  But  Mr.  Tuckerman  did 
not  search  far  enough  to  discover  even  the  artist's  initials,  and  probably 
judged  of  the  foreign  origin  simply  by  the  Scotch  vibration  to  his  name, 
or  that  good  painters  of  the  day  were  generally  foreigners.  Sufficient 
investigation  to  have  assured  him  that  his  subject  was  not  of  American 
origin  must  also  have  shown  him  his  initials.  He  printed  his  name  on 
almost  all  of  his  pictures,  "J.  B.  Blackburn." 

Private  authority,  in  the  shape  of  heir-loom  legendary,  gives  the  artist 
Blackburn  a  Connecticut  origin.  We  surely  possess  too  many  of  his 
works  to  admit  the  theory  that  he  only  visited  America,  beside  incontro- 
vertible proof  that  he  painted  for  over  fifteen  years  in  Massachusetts,  aside 
from  the  time  he  must  have  spent  in  Connecticut.  In  searching  for  proof 
to  support  the  Connecticut  theory,  it  has  been  found  that  about  the  year 
1703  (before  and  after)  an  itinerant  painter  and  jack-at-all-trades,  Christo- 
pher B.  Blackburn,  worked  in  various  parts  of  the  State.  Certain  papers, 
dated  in  Wethersfield,  would  indicate  that  he  was  the  meagre  head  of  a 
moderate  family  living  there.  These  facts  prove  nothing ;  but  it  may  be 
that  Christopher  B.  had  a  son,  J.  B.,  possibly  born  in  Wethersfield,  prob- 
ably about  the  year  1700.  Such  a  son,  —  born  with  perhaps  no  more  talent 
than  hundreds  of  others,  but  with  a  possibility  of  making  the  most  of  it,  — 
receiving  the  rudimentary  knowledge  of  color  from  his  father,  would  natu- 
rally have  gone  to  Europe  to  complete  the  study  begun  in  the  wilds  of 
New  England  under  an  itinerant  limner  of  no  pretensions.  Unknown, 


Rev,  Joseph  Stewart,  —  Ralph  Earl. 


31 


of  course  he  would  have  gone  away,  and  returned  —  what  he  was  called  — 
virtually  a  foreign  artist. 

Evidently  this  is  not  a  propitious  biographical  beginning,  though  the 
result  of  a  laborious  research ;  but  the  fact  that  Connecticut  offered  the 
United  States  the  first  native  painter  of  prominence  is  a  sufficient  glory 
to  dignify  the  slightest  items  that  may  form  a  proof.  Hence  the  above 
is  inserted,  and  yet  not  as  evidence,  but  in  the  hope  that  it  may  be  a 
stepping-stone  to  the  uncovering  of  facts  that  shall  amount  to  sufficient 
evidence  and  undeniable  proof. 

REV.  JOSEPH  STEWART. 

The  next  man  to  register  his  name  in  the  pages  of  history  as  an  artist 
of  Connecticut  was  the  Congregationalist  minister,  Rev.  Joseph  Stewart. 
He  was  born  in  1750.  He  painted  a  little  in  New  Haven  when  but  twenty 
years  old,  while  studying  for  the  ministry.  Entering  his  profession,  he 
laid  aside  his  art  of  painting,  till  in  1800,  driven  by  ill  health  from  the 
pulpit,  he  appeared  in  Hartford  with  a  collection  of  curiosities,  and  opened 
a  museum  in  an  old  building  still  standing  on  the  corner  of  Main  and  Tal- 
cott  Streets.  Among  this  collection  were  several  specimens  of  Mr.  Stew- 
art's painting ;  and  in  the  museum  he  set  up  his  easel,  becoming  also  a 
deacon  of  the  Centre  Church.  In  these  various  offices  he  won  the  respect 
and  confidence  of  the  good  people  of  Hartford,  and  supported  himself,  his 
wife  (a  daughter  of  the  famous  Squire  William  Mosely),  and  two  reputedly 
beautiful  daughters.  He  painted  for  a  very  low  price,  but  probably  re- 
ceived all  the  work  was  worth.  Dr.  Mason  Strong's  portrait  is  the  best 
remaining  likeness  to  be  found,  and  is  far  excelled  by  the  artist's  copies  of 
Gov.  Saltonstall  and  the  second  Gov.  Wolcott,  now  in  the  Hartford  His- 
torical Rooms.  The  Museum  Hall  was  the  wonder  of  the  city,  especially 
of  the  small  boys,  who  on  Saturday  afternoon  were  admitted  for  five 
cents  each,  and  allowed  to  rally  round  one  of  the  first  hand-organs  ever 
brought  into  Hartford.  In  time  the  hand-organ  gave  in  to  the  boys,  and 
lost  some  of  its  best  notes  ;  but  they  enjoyed  it  none  the  less.  A  little 
later,  the  museum  was  united  with  a  larger  one ;  and  it  and  its  owner,  sub- 
merged in  an  increasing  flood,  were  forgotten. 

RALPH  EARL. 

The  name  of  Earl  sorely  perplexed  Mr.  Dunlap,  who,  in  the  course  of 
his  invaluable  history,  has  several  confused  statements  concerning  Earls 
of  whom  he  had  heard  in  different  parts  of  the  country.    These  several. 


32 


Art  and  Artists  in  Connecticut. 


however,  with  a  few  corrections,  resolve  themselves  into  a  compara- 
tively minute  history  of  a  son  of  Connecticut  who  very  early  honored 
her  art. 

Ralph  Earl  (not  T.  Earl,  as  appears  in  Mr.  Tuckerman's  book)  was 
born  in  Lebanon,  Conn.,  about  the  year  175 1.  Through  some  misin- 
formation, Mr.  Dunlap  has  him  born  in  Leicester,  Eng.,  where  he  had 
relatives,  and  where  he  afterward  found  a  wife.  What  instruction  he 
obtained  beyond  the  study  of  pictures  is  uncertain;  but  in  1771  he  was 
painting  miniature  and  life-size  portraits  as  an  itinerant  through  the 
State.  A  townsman,  and  only  older  by  five  years  than  Col.  Trumbull,  it 
is  not  impossible  that  many  of  the  same  influences  bore  upon  each.  This 
life  he  pursued  till  the  breaking-out  of  the  war,  when  he  entered  the  Gov- 
ernor's Guard,  and  joined  in  the  famous  march  in  defence  of  Lexington 
and  to  Cambridge.  When  twenty-five  years  old,  an  influential  friend 
offered  him  a  chance  to  study  art  abroad  if  he  would  go  in  the  capacity  of 
a  gentleman's  servant.  The  love  of  art  conquered  the  pride  of  the  soldier, 
and  he  went.  He  remained  twelve  years  abroad,  much  of  the  time  in 
London,  studying  under  Benjamin  West,  and  through  his  influence  ob- 
tained a  commission  to  paint  the  portrait  of  King  George  III.  He  was 
also  made  a  member  of  the  Royal  Academy  of  Art.  In  1786  Ralph  Earl 
returned  to  Connecticut  with  his  wife.  A  strange  similarity  in  names, 
dates,  and  circumstances,  led  Mr.  Dunlap  to  conjecture  that  an  artist  by 
the  name  of  Earl,  who  died  in  Charleston,  S.C.,  of  yellow-fever,  in  1792, 
leaving  a  widow  and  children  in  London,  was  the  Connecticut  artist.  Mr. 
Tuckerman  copied  this  conjecture,  putting  it  in  the  positive  form  of  a 
fact.  Whereas  Ralph  Earl,  the  Connecticut  artist,  author  of  the  works 
that  both  the  above  writers  credit  to  their  various  subjects  of  the  name, 
died  in  Bolton,  Conn.,  in  1801.  He  was  a  man  of  recklessly  intemperate 
habits,  and  literally  ''murdered  his  own  greatness"  with  liquor.  As  a 
necessary  incident,  he  was  a  man  of  very  fluctuating  fortune ;  and,  though 
at  times  "rolling  in  riches,"  Mr.  Tuckerman  relates  that  once,  the  artist 
having  been  imprisoned  for  debt,  the  wife  of  Gen.  Hamilton  and  others 
went  to  the  prison,  and  sat  for  their  pictures  to  assist  in  his  release. 
Of  the  work  of  Mr.  Earl  a  more  accurate  estimate  cannot  be  given  than 
that  contained  in  Mr.  Dunlap's  history,  and  wisely  copied  by  Mr.  Tucker- 
man, though  without  giving  credit.  The  wisdom  is  repeated  :  "  He  had 
considerable  merit ;  a  breadth  of  light  and  shadow,  facility  of  handling, 
and  truth  in  likeness."  His  principal  work,  and  that  which  alone  should 
make  his  name  famous,  is  a  series  of  four  large  paintings  from  sketches 
made  upon  that  march  of  the  Governor's  Guard.  They  were  the  first 
historical  paintings  executed  by  a  native-American  artist,  and  were  after- 


John  Trumbull. 


33 


ward  engraved  by  Amos  Doolittle.  He  also  painted  Niagara  Falls,  and  a 
portrait  of  Col.  George  Willis  that  now  hangs  in  the  Hartford  Historical 
Rooms.  In  Hartford  he  painted  a  portrait  of  Judge  Ellsworth,  and  one 
of  Col.  Talcott.  This  latter,  of  course  completed  in  the  colonel's  house, 
was  commented  upon  by  his  housekeeper  at  the  request  of  the  artist. 
The  criticism  was,  It  might  do  well  enough  for  a  picture  if  he  didn't 
sit  so  bastely  in  his  cheer."  Ralph  Earl  also  painted  the  finest  exist- 
ing portrait  of  Roger  Sherman,  now  in  a  private  collection  in  New 
Haven. 

On  the  artist's  return  from  Europe,  Mr.  Whiting  of  New  Hampshire 
engaged  him  to  paint  his  family ;  but  he  procrastinated  so  unbearably,  and 
was  so  entirely  under  the  influence  of  liquor,  that  the  engagement,  as  many 
similar  following,  was  broken  off.  Finding  his  sceptre  fast  departing, 
though  he  was  hardly  in  the  prime  of  life,  he  gathered  together  what  little 
he  had  left  of  money  and  effects,  and  retired  to  a  quiet  dying-place  in  the 
silent  old  village  of  Bolton.  Of  his  son  Augustus  nothing  can  be  found 
that  should  entitle  him  to  a  place  in  Connecticut.  His  wild,  roving 
life  forms  an  excitingly  interesting  history,  full  of  triumphs  and  failures ; 
but  he  was  probably  born  in  London,  and  left  there  when  his  mother 
followed  her  husband  to  America. 

JOHN  TRUMBULL. 

When  a  man  of  mark  has  been  dead  for  the  third  of  a  century,  and  left 
to  the  world  a  full  and  interesting  autobiography,  beside  several  biog- 
raphies and  semi-biographies,  it  must  of  necessity  be  a  difficult  task  to 
write  any  thing  new  of  him  ;  but,  in  the  case  of  John  Trumbull,  the  time 
has  not  yet  passed  when  a  general  but  brief  survey  of  his  personal  char- 
acteristics as  an  artist  and  a  man  may  not  be  both  interesting  and 
profitable. 

He  was  the  son  of  Jonathan  Trumbull,  the  Colonial  Governor  of 
Connecticut,  who  was  endearingly  called  "  Brother  Jonathan  "  by  Wash- 
ington. He  was  born  in  Lebanon,  Conn.,  June  6,  1756;  and  graduated  at 
Harvard  College  in  1773,  when  he  at  once  turned  his  attention  to  paint- 
ing. He  joined  the  army  in  1775  as  an  adjutant,  and,  having  rendered 
some  special  service  by  drawing  plans  of  the  English  fortifications,  was 
made  an  aide-de-camp  to  Washington ;  served  with  Gates  in  the  Northern 
army  as  adjutant-general,  and  resigned  his  commission  in  1777.  Having 
resumed  the  pencil,  he  went  to  Paris  in  1780 ;  thence  to  London,  where  he 
studied  art  with  Benjamin  West.  While  there,  he  was  suspected  as  being 
a  spy,  and  was  imprisoned  for  eight  months.    On  being  released  through 


34 


Art  and  Artists  in  Connecticut, 


the  influence  of  West,  he  returned  to  America  in  1782.  He  again  visited 
England,  and  returned  in  1789.  In  1794  he  went  to  England  as  secretary 
to  John  Jay,  and  passed  about  ten  years  in  the  diplomatic  service.  In 
181 1  he  again  visited  England,  where  he  remained  four  years  ;  when  he  re- 
turned to  New  York,  where,  with  the  exception  of  a  brief  sojourn  in  New 
Haven,  he  remained  until  his  death,  Nov.  10,  1843.  In  addition  to  the 
positions  already  mentioned,  he  held  that  of  President  of  the  American 
Academy  of  Fine  Arts,  and,  as  such,  did  much  to  foster  the  love  of  art  in 
the  United  States.  As  he  advanced  in  years,  he  collected  his  unsold 
paintings  into  a  gallery,  which  he  disposed  of  to  Yale  College  on  the 
condition  that  he  should  receive  an  annuity  of  fifteen  hundred  dollars 
during  the  balance  of  his  life ;  which  arrangement  enabled  him,  with 
other  income,  to  reach  the  end  in  comfort  and  peace. 

During  this  long  period.  Col.  Trumbull  was  constantly  studying,  if 
not  practising,  his  favorite  art.  Aside  from  the  many  portraits  and  small 
miscellaneous  pictures  that  he  painted  for  his  friends, — of  which  sixty- 
eight  were  painted  before  he  was  twenty-five  years  of  age, — there  are 
many  always  accessible  to  the  public  in  Washington,  Hartford,  New 
Haven,  New  York,  and  Boston  or  Cambridge,  ranging  in  size  from  minia- 
ture to  mammoth  productions.  Of  the  portraits  the  largest  proportion 
arc  not  only  excellent  as  works  of  art,  but  invaluable  as  contributions  to 
history.  The  larger  paintings  in  the  national  capital,  in  spite  of  some 
deficiencies,  must  always  be  highly  esteemed  because  of  their  subjects  ; 
while  the  eight  smaller  productions  connected  with  the  Revolution,  and 
forming  a  part  of  the  New-Haven  Collection,  cannot  but  command  the 
admiration  of  the  most  competent  critics.  In  technical  skill  Col.  Trum- 
bull was  of  course  greatly  behind  such  men  as  Meissonier  and  others 
of  that  stamp  ;  but,  so  far  as  the  higher  objects  of  art  are  concerned, 
the  American  undoubtedly  stands  on  a  higher  plane  than  the  famous 
Frenchman.  That  Col.  Trumbull  was  a  great  master  cannot  be  rea- 
sonably claimed  ;  but  in  view  of  the  pioneer  times  in  which  he  lived,  and 
of  the  work  accomplished  by  him,  he  must  of  necessity  always  command 
the  highest  respect  of  his  countrymen.  That  he  was  a  conscientious 
worker  is  proved  by  the  fact  that  he  travelled  from  one  end  of  the  country 
to  the  other  to  collect  likenesses  of  the  men  he  proposed  to  perpetuate  on 
canvas.  That  he  should  have  conceived  the  idea  of  perpetuating  the 
events  of  the  Revolution  with  his  pencil  gives  evidence  of  a  superior 
mind  ;  that  he  should  have  undertaken  such  a  task  proves  his  courage ; 
and  that  he  should  have  accomplished  it  so  successfully,  under  the 
most  adverse  circumstances,  exhibits  him  as  a  man  of  rare  perse- 
verance. 


John  Trumbull, 


35 


A  leading  characteristic  of  this  soldier-artist  was  his  apparent  sense  of 
superiority  over  other  men.  It  is  true  that  he  belonged  to  a  family  whose 
escutcheon  had  never  been  soiled  by  an  unworthy  act,  and  that  he  had  for 
personal  friends  such  men  as  Washington,  Jefferson,  John  Adams,  and 
Monroe  ;  but  he  was  in  reality  a  lover  of  his  fellow-men,  and  his  seeming 
haughtiness  was  merely  a  physical  peculiarity.  Nor  was  it  true  that  his 
dignity  always  militated  against  his  influence.  When,  in  1777,  the  Conti- 
nental Congress  treated  him  with  seeming  neglect  in  not  promptly  sending 
him  a  commission  for  promotion,  according  to  the  advice  of  Gen.  Gates, 
he  returned  the  commission  with  a  letter  of  explanation,  in  which  he  made 
this  manly  remark :  If  I  have  committed  any  crime,  or  neglected  any 
duty,  since  I  engaged  in  the  service  of  my  country  ;  if  I  have  performed 
any  action,  or  spoken  a  word  in  my  public  character,  unworthy  of  my 
rank,  — let  me  be  tried  by  comrades,  and  broke  :  but  I  must  not  be  thought 
so  destitute  of  feeling  as  to  bear  degradation  tamely."  If  that  language 
proved  him  to  be  an  aristocrat,  the  more  of  such  people  we  have  in  public 
life  the  better.  The  special  member  of  Congress  who  acted  for  him  in  this 
matter  hastened  to  inform  him  that  a  mistake  had  been  committed,  and 
that  his  character  was  unblemished  in  the  opinion  of  those  who  should 
have  forwarded  the  commission.  He  also  intimated  that  Col.  Trumbull 
had  better  write  another  letter,  and  ask  for  his  commission,  &c.  In 
his  reply  to  this  suggestion,  he  said,  "  I  have  never  asked  any  office  in  the 
public  service  ;  nor  will  I  ever.  The  very  request  would  acknowledge  and 
prove  my  unworthiness." 

Col.  Trumbull  had  a  reputation  for  rudeness  among  artists  :  but  it  need 
not  by  any  means  follow  that  at  heart  he  was  rude ;  for  artists  are  prover- 
bially sensitive,  and  may  have  misjudged  him.  For  instance  :  Col.  Trum- 
bull entered  a  young  artist's  studio  one  morning,  and  inquired,  "Young 
man,  how  fast  do  you  paint  t "  The  answer  was  given.  "  And  how 
much  do  you  get  for  your  portraits.'^"  —  Only  fifteen  dollars,  sir."  — 
"And  quite  enough,"  observed  the  visitor;  then  added,  "Young  man, 
remember  this  :  nine  painters  out  of  ten,  great  and  small,  err  in  drawing ; " 
and  went  his  way.  It  was  an  excellent  piece  of  advice ;  but  to  this  day 
that  artist,  who  has  painted  portraits  ever  since,  is  an  enemy  of  Col. 
Trumbull's.  He  told  another  young  artist  he  had  better  be  a  shoemaker, 
and  the  artist  now  admits  that  he  would  probably  have  been  richer  to-day 
if  he  had.  It  was  long  a  proverbial  expression,  originally  credited  to 
Col.  Trumbull,  that  the  framer  makes  more  than  the  painter,  indicating 
the  spirit  in  which  he  intended  the  remark. 

For  thorough,  old-school  politeness  and  courtliness.  Col.  Trumbull  had 
few  equals.    La  Fayette,  one  of  his  most  intimate  friends,  said  that  his 


36 


Art  and  Artists  in  Con7iecticut. 


works  should  be  the  first,  if  not  the  only,  ornaments  of  his  dwelhng. 
Benjamin  West,  Charles  James  Fox,  and  Edmund  Burke,  were  the  men 
who  interceded  in  his  behalf,  and  had  him  released  from  his  London  pris- 
on. John  Jay,  Alexander  Hamilton,  Stephen  Van  Rensselaer,  and  men  of 
that  stamp,  took  pleasure  in  his  companionship ;  and  with  David  Hosack, 
DeWitt  Clinton,  and  Robert  R.  Livingston,  he  was  intimately  associated  in 
promoting  a  taste  for  the  fine  arts,  and  in  conducting  the  affairs  of  the  old 
American  Academy.  And,  so  far  as  the  estimation  in  which  he  was  held 
by  the  public  generally  both  as  a  man  and  an  artist  is  concerned,  there  is 
nothing  that  can  speak  more  eloquently  than  the  three  hundred  and  forty- 
four  names  which  were  subscribed  for  a  series  of  engravings  from  his  paint- 
ings as  far  back  as  the  year  1790.  It  is  a  royal  list  of  names,  which 
would  never  have  been  recorded  in  favor  of  a  common  man. 

In  the  autumn  of  181 5  Col.  Trumbull  returned  to  America  with  his 
English  wife,  a  lady  of  rare  beauty.  She  died  in  1825  ;  and  for  nearly 
nineteen  years,  until  his  own  death  in  1843,  he  kept  her  portrait,  which 
he  had  painted,  closely  veiled  at  the  head  of  his  bed.  This  portrait  is 
now  in  possession  of  his  niece.  Miss  Lanman  of  Norwich.  The  winter  of 
18 19  he  spent  in  Hartford  at  the  house  of  Daniel  Wadsworth,  using  the 
small  tower  upon  the  house  as  a  studio,  where  he  prepared  some  of  his 
historical  sketches.  He  was  an  elegant  conversationalist,  and,  especially 
in  his  family,  generous  and  gentle.  As  a  colorist  he  was  not  equal  to 
Stuart,  nor  could  he  rival  Copley  in  dravv^ing ;  but,  in  the  higher  attributes 
of  art,  many  would  say  he  excelled  them  both.  Thackeray  pronounced  his 
work  ''the  head  of  American  art."  Connecticut  may  well  be  proud  that 
he  was  born  upon  her  soil,  that  most  of  his  best  productions  are  in  her 
possession,  and  that  his  remains  are  in  her  keeping.  He  died  in  1843,  re- 
tiring honorably  from  an  eminence  where  many  had  jealously  assailed 
him,  —  none  less  vindictively  than  the  historian  Dunlap,  —  but  from  which 
all  together  had  not  been  able  to  shake  him. 

WILLIAM  DUNLAP. 

The  great  work  of  William  Dunlap — his  immortal  work  —  was  his 
History  of  American  Art."  It  is  evident  from  his  writings  that  he  con- 
sidered his  paintings  capable  of  making  his  name  famous;  but  therein  he 
was  mistaken.  Born  in  New  Jersey  in  1766  of  poot  parents,  he  made  of 
himself  what  he  very  justly  termed  ''a  prodigy  of  unsuccessful  success," 
spending  a  long  life  in  the  various  capacities  of  artist,  showman,  lecturer, 
theatre-manager,  play-writer,  historian,  and  editor.  Poor  all  his  life,  he 
would  at  the  end  have  died  in  destitution,  and  been  laid  in  an  unvarnished 


Elkanah  Tisdale, 


2>7 


coffin,  but  for  friends  in  art  and  on  the  stage  who  sustained  him  and  buried 
him  by  donations  and  benefits.  In  his  rambhngs  as  an  artist,  Mr.  Dunlap 
passed  some  time  in  Connecticut,  between  New  Haven  and  Hartford,  and 
should  justly  be  mentioned  as  one  of  the  early  influences  for  art  in  the 
State.  It  was  during  one  of  his  many  downfalls,  early  in  1812,  that  he 
first  visited  New  Haven  with  the  determination  of  making  a  fortune 
painting  miniature  portraits.  A  few  friends  upon  whom  he  could  depend 
gave  him  orders  :  but  beyond  that  they  began  to  drop  off ;  and  soon 
sitters  refused  to  take  the  miniatures,  declaring  they  could  not  tell  one 
from  another.  Mr.  Dunlap  was  quick-tempered,  as  the  proverbial  old- 
school  aristocratic  gentleman  always  is ;  and  in  six  months  he  shook  the 
dust  of  New  Haven  from  his  feet,  denouncing  the  city  as  void  of  any 
art-feeling  whatsoever.  His  book  indirectly  indicates  that  he  never  quite 
forgot  this  cold  shoulder.  He  went  to  Boston,  and  took  occasion  to  visit 
Stuart  with  some  of  the  discarded  portraits.  It  is  said,  that,  in  his 
inimitably  quiet  way,  Stuart  told  him  he  thought  the  New-Haven  people 
were  right :  Brother  Dunlap,  it  appears  to  me  the  good  people  of  New 
Haven  may  have  had  some  cause."  Mr.  Dunlap  says  that  he  advised 
him  to  return  to  New  York,  and  study.  He  did  return  so  far  as  Hartford 
in  October,  when  he  resolved  to  try  the  other  capital.  Whether  it  be 
complimentary  to  one  or  the  other,  or  neither,  he  had  much  better  success 
in  the  latter  city,  and  remained  for  some  time,  with  no  regular  studio 
except  a  small  back-room  behind  the  Rev.  Joseph  Stewart's  museum. 
Evidently  the  reverend  artist  did  not  treat  his  brother  Dunlap  as  cir- 
cumspectly in  all  things  as  he  supposed  he  deserved  ;  for  the  history 
speaks  very  disparagingly  of  the  museum-keeper's  art.  He  painted 
nothing  but  miniature  portraits  in  the  State  ;  and,  shortly  after  his  re- 
turn to  New  York,  he  received  an  appointment  in  the  paymaster's  de- 
partment, and  entered  government  service. 


ELKANAH  TISDALE. 

The  artist  Tisdale  refused  to  give  Mr.  Dunlap  any  information  regard- 
ing himself.  Mr.  Dunlap  replies  through  his  book,  The  world  will  care 
nothing  about  it."  Hence  the  world  has  lost  what  would  to-day  have  been 
a  valuable  biography.  When  people  learn  that  there  is  a  pride  that  apes 
humility,  the  world  will  be  much  better  off.  A  few  (fortunately  none  of 
importance)  have  adopted  the  same  course  of  reply  to  solicitations  for  the 
present  volume,  and  the  desire  has  been  strong  to  treat  them  accordingly  : 
but  the  unfortunate  result  of  the  course  pursued  above  has  prevented ;  and 
facts  thus  refused  have  been  sought  for  elsewhere,  and  invariably  found. 


38 


Art  a7id  Artists  in  Connecticut. 


till,  it  is  said  with  pride,  no  one  will  be  able  to  discover  by  any  internal 
evidence  which  were  the  few  who  refused. 

In  the  case  of  Mr.  Tisdale,  every  channel  has  been  followed  offering 
possible  information  ;  and  a  few  facts  have  been  gathered  from  the  so- 
easily-forgotten  yesterday.  He  was  born  in  Lebanon,  probably  in  the 
year  1771  ;  though  there  is  no  record  of  his  birth.  He  was  the  son  of  a 
wagon-maker,  who,  at  the  same  time,  was  one  of  the  old-time  gentlemen  ; 
and  the  boy  was  brought  up  with  all  the  dignity  and  refinement  of  aris- 
tocracy. It  clung  to  him  in  a  graceful  polish  through  life.  His  first 
impressions  of  art  were  gathered  from  the  lives  and  works  of  his  illustri- 
ous townsmen,  and  his  first  knowledge  in  the  carriage-shop.  He  had  re- 
ceived no  instruction  whatever  when  he  appeared  in  Hartford  with  a  large 
painting,  **The  Battle  of  Lexington."  Locally  this  was  so  popular,  that 
it  was  almost  immediately  engraved;  but  Mr.  Dunlap  pronounces  it  ''a 
very  feeble  affair."  In  the  brief  sketches  that  exist  of  Mr.  Tisdale,  he  is 
referred  to  as  ''engraver  and  painter."  Probably  he  understood  engrav- 
ing ;  but  it  was  not  the  chief  profession  of  his  life,  and  indeed  was  virtu- 
ally never  his  profession.  The  idea  is  derived  from  the  fact  that  he  was 
connected  with  the  Hartford  Graphic  and  Bank-Note  Engraving  Company  ; 
but  his  occupation  was  simply  designing  the  vignettes.  This  gave  him 
much  time  to  pursue  his  art  in  other  directions.  He  also  designed  many 
of  the  illustrations  in  the  1795  edition  of  Trumbull's  McFingal,"  and  a 
political  satire,  entitled  "Gerrymander,"  representing  the  famous  Gerry  in 
the  shape  of  a  serpent  coiled  suggestively  about  the  State  of  Massachu- 
setts. Tisdale's  finest  work  by  far  was  in  miniature-portrait  painting  on 
ivory.  One  of  these  is  now  in  possession  of  A.  H.  Emmons  of  Norwich, — 
a  portrait  of  Gen.  Knox,  —  fully  displaying  the  touch  of  a  master.  The 
flesh-tints  on  the  cheek,  the  fire  in  the  eye,  the  waves  of  white  hair,  the 
life  in  the  face  of  the  florid  old  man,  are  remarkably  fine. 

Mr.  Tisdale  lived  a  bachelor,  and  lacked  somewhat  of  the  enthusiasm 
of  necessity.  He  was  short,  fat,  bald,  and  independent.  It  was  probably 
the  irresistible  wave  striking  the  immovable  rock  when  he  and  Dunlap 
clashed.  He  was  more  given  to  thought  than  to  painting,  and  very 
absent-minded.  One  morning  a  lad  rapped  on  his  door,  calling  for  some 
ivory  he  had  promised  him  on  which  to  try  his  hand  at  miniature  por- 
traits. Hearing  a  lusty  "Come  in,"  he  opened  the  door  to  find  the  fat 
artist  in  a  bob-tailed  shirt  before  a  small  mirror,  shaving.  Suddenly 
recollecting  his  position,  he  remarked,  without  lifting  his  razor,  "Fm 
busy  now,  boy.  Come  again."  The  call  was  never  repeated ;  for,  a 
few  days  afterward,  Mr.  Tisdale  left  for  Lebanon  on  business,  not  to 
return. 


Gideon  Fair  man.  —  God  Bacchus, 


39 


GIDEON  FAIRMAN. 

Gideon  (more  familiarly  known  as  Colonel)  Fairman  was  strictly  an  en- 
graver, and  as  such  must  be  omitted  here  ;  but  Col.  Fairman,  in  a  modest 
way,  was  also  a  painter.  He  was  born  in  Newtown,  Fairfield  County, 
Conn.,  in  June,  1774.  His  early  inclinations  led  him  toward  the  fine  arts. 
His  father,  being  in  very  moderate  circumstances,  was  obliged  to  place 
him  as  apprentice  to  a  blacksmith  in  New  Milford.  He  spent  his  leisure 
time  cutting  figures  in  wood  with  his  horseshoeing-knife.  An  itinerant 
engraver,  seeing  some  of  this  work,  earnestly  urged  his  father  to  make  the 
pathway  to  success  easier  before  him.  The  engraver  so  far  succeeded 
that  the  boy  was  placed  under  a  silversmith,  who  was  also  an  engraver. 
Having  learned  both  trades,  he  connected  himself  with  the  National  Bank- 
Note  Engraving  Company,  where  he  was  so  successful,  that  for  several 
years  he  lived  in  Philadelphia  in  luxurious  style.  Fraudulently  relieved 
of  his  property  and  position,  he  turned  to  his  first  impulses,  which  had  been 
toward  painting.  He  produced  a  few  pictures,  which  at  once  awakened 
public  enthusiasm  in  his  behalf ;  and  he  resolved  thereupon  to  be  a 
painter.  His  work  was  bold,  good  in  color,  excellent  in  drawing.  But 
another  opportunity,  offering  more  immediate  returns  in  engraving,  induced 
him  to  take  up  the  graver  again  with  the  noble  resolve  to  repay  those  who 
had  suffered  by  his  failure  before  indulging  the  longing  of  his  life.  This 
resolve,  however,  never  found  fulfilment.  He  was  a  portly,  jovial  man ; 
and  the  fierceness  with  which  he  devoted  himself  to  the  closely-confined 
life  of  the  engraver  was  too  much  of  a  shock.  He  fell  a  victim  to  paraly- 
sis in  1827. 

GOD  BACCHUS. 

At  first  thought,  it  may  appear  as  overreaching  the  limits  of  the  sub- 
ject for  the  admission  of  an  honorable  dignitary  to  gather  the  above- 
named  into  the  history  of  art  in  Connecticut.  This  charge  may  easily  be 
substantiated,  and  as  easily  refuted.  The  argument,  produced  in  a  nut- 
shell, amounts  to  this  :  While  the  god  Bacchus  is  undoubtedly  of  Oriental 
birth  and  parentage,  a  comparatively  late  and  remarkable  edition  of  him 
owes  existence  wholly  and  entirely  to  art  in  Connecticut.  This,  enforced 
by  the  fact  that  his  godship  has  exerted  more  influence  over  the  State 
than  any  artist,  and  is  himself  fundamentally,  superficially,  and  in  com- 
mon and  uncommon  acceptation,  nothing  more  nor  less  than  a  child  of  art, 
clinches  the  nail,  and  renders  an  absolute  necessity  to  the  history  of  art  in 
the  State  the  biography  of  a  god.  Hence  the  following  sketch  of  Bacchus, 
the  revised  edition  of  whom  was  born  in  Windham  in  the  year  we  cele- 


40 


Art  a7id  Artists  in  Connecticut, 


brated  by  the  great  centennial,  1776!  He  was  fashioned  by  the  hands 
of  four  members  of  his  Britannic  Majesty's  naval  service. 

On  the  niorning  of  the  loth  of  June,  1776,  daring  Puritans  captured,  in 
Long-Island  Sound,  the  British  ship  "  Bombrig."  The  blood-boiling  details 
of  the  heroic  fight  and  capture  are  irrelevant.  The  only  relevancy  in  fact 
is,  that  four  of  the  prisoners  taken  on  that  ship  and  morning  were  sent  to 
the  old  Windham  town-jail.    Why  they  were  sent  there  is  as  unaccount- 


"  BACCHUS."  —  FROM  A  PINE-LOG. 


able  as  need  be;  for  the  rickety  jail  was  only  able  to  hold  them  for  six 
months,  and  would  not  have  succeeded  so  long,  but  that  circumstances 
rendered  it  advisable  for  them  to  remain  there  of  their  own  free  will.  In 
fact,  as  evidence  of  the  frailty  of  its  battlements  and  barriers,  not  only 
has  it  crumbled  to  dust  in  the  hundred  years  that  have  passed,  but  even 
the  site  of  it  is  altogether  lost  to  memory.  Probably  the  only  relic  of 
the  days  of  that  old  jail  is  the  god  Bacchus. 


God  Bacchus, 


41 


These  four  men  were  respectively  the  commander,  Edward  Sneyd  ; 
the  boatswain,  John  Coggin ;  a  member  of  the  carpenter's  crew,  John 
Russell ;  and  an  able-bodied  seaman,  William  Cook.  Sneyd  was  born  in 
Kent  County,  Eng.,  in  1740.  At  fourteen  he  entered  the  royal  naval 
service,  and,  after  distinguished  honors  here  and  there,  appeared  in  Long- 
Island  Sound,  commanding  The  Bombrig,"  to  which  he  was  commis- 
sioned in  1775.  Coggin  was  born  in  Killigan,  county  of  Meath,  Ireland, 
in  1731  ;  entering  the  service  at  nineteen.  He  was  on  his  way  up  the 
ladder  when  the  Windham  farmers  chalked  his  feet.  Russell,  born  in 
Hampshire,  Eng.,  in  1749,  began  life  in  the  capacity  of  a  carpenter 
when  twenty-three,  and,  serving  a  full  apprenticeship,  joined  ''The  Bom- 
brig"  in  1775  ;  and  Cook  was  born  in  Great  Yarmouth,  Eng.,  1794.  He 
did  not  join  the  royal  navy  till  he  was  thirty-one;  which  accounts  for  the 
limited  progress  he  had  made  when  checked  in  his  march  by  the  wooden 
walls  of  the  Windham  jail. 

There  was  little  fellow-sympathy  for  this  quartet  in  the  serious  coun- 
try-town, rasped  and  harrowed  as  it  was  by  just  such  as  they;  and  the 
durance  into  which  they  were  thrown  was  no  less  vile  on  that  account. 
There  was  one  good  soul,  however,  who  took  pity  on  them.  The  Widow 
Carey,  as  widows  do,  extended  to  them  many  tender-hearted  tokens.  The 
motives  for  her  kindness  and  sympathy  may  not  be  explained  at  this  late 
day,  nor  do  they  legitimately  connect  themselves  with  the  question  of  art. 
Suffice  it,  that,  whatever  they  were,  the  French  leave  which  the  four  sail- 
ors took  of  the  Windham  jail  and  all  appurtenances  thereto,  Widow  Carey 
included,  broke  up  any  arrangements  she  may  have  made  for  the  future. 
The  fact,  too,  that  she  afterward  appeared  as  Mrs.  Fitch  —  the  wife  of 
the  tavern-keeper,  John  Fitch,  a  true-born  Yankee  —  is  indicative  of  no 
seriously  broken  heart.  Widow  Carey  was  landlady  of  the  tavern  of 
Windham  Green,  and,  in  a  somewhat  sly  but  none  the  less  open-hearted 
way,  administered  many  well-directed  favors.  The  imprisoned  four  took 
her  delicacies  both  to  stomach  and  to  heart,  and  resolved  between  them- 
selves upon  a  grateful  acknowledgment.  They  were  limited  as  to  matter, 
and  limited  as  to  means  ;  but  pine  was  abundant  thereabout,  and  they  had 
four  jack-knives  between  them.  They  obtained  a  huge  log,  and  set  them- 
selves to  work  at  the  task  of  forming  out  of  it  a  figure  of  Bacchus.  This 
was  a  doubly  appropriate  gift  to  the  Widow  Carey ;  for  she  not  only  kept 
and  tended  bar,  but  had  doubtless  many  a  time,  in  her  generous  sympathy, 
contrived  to  smuggle  a  welcome  draught  to  the  parched  prisoners. 

The  result  of  their  labor  is  certainly  artistic  and  clever.  The  jovial 
god  of  wine,  naked  and  fat,  sits  astride  a  cask.  On  the  cask  in  front  of 
him  rests  a  basket  of  fruit.    One  fat  arm  lovingly  encircles  the  basket. 


42 


Art  and  Artists  in  Connecticut, 


and  one  fat  hand  is  resting  on  the  fruit.  The  great,  round,  dimpled, 
laughing  face,  with  large  eyes,  and  thick,  wine-loving  lips,  has  a  peculiar 
expressiveness.  In  fact,  the  whole  figure  —  time,  place,  and  tools  taken 
into  consideration  —  is  strangely  life-like.  In  1864,  when  it  was  upon  a 
trip  from  New  York  to  Hartford  by  cars,  a  lady,  who  caught  sight  of  simply 
the  upper  half  and  the  front  of  the  figure,  was  with  difficulty  restrained 
from  fainting.  She  thought  "a  man,  even  though  he  were  a  miserable 
dwarf,  had  no  business  to  travel  in  a  car  with  ladies,  without  clothes  on." 
Grape-vine  leaves  cover  the  top  of  the  head,  and  the  hair  beneath  them 
is  clusters  of  grapes.  There  are  dimples  in  the  cheeks  and  chin,  a 
merry  twinkle  in  the  eyes,  and  a  roguish  smile  on  the  parted  lips,  very 
becoming  to  the  little  fat  god.  The  figure  is  painted  a  warm  flesh-color. 
The  eyes  arc  black,  the  basket  brown,  the  fruit  of  its  various  colors,  the 
cask  a  dark  red,  and  the  hoops  black  ;  the  work  of  the  artist,  George 
Bottume.  The  little  god  would  stand  twenty-six  and  a  half  inches  high, 
and  the  keg  is  twenty-one  inches  long.  The  whole  is  of  one  solid  piece, 
with  the  exception  of  five  of  the  hoops.  What  a  sermon  might  be  i)reached 
upon  this  work,  the  notoriety  it  has  given  its  authors,  and  the  place  in 
legendary  history,  when  thousands  of  men  performing  deeds  many-fold 
more  wonderful  are  lost  and  forgotten  before  the  first  flower  has  blos- 
somed on  their  graves  ! 

The  four  prisoners  completed  the  figure,  presented  it,  and  then  made 
their  escape.  They  reached  Norwich,  stole  a  small  boat,  and  struck  out 
for  freedom.  In  "The  Connecticut  Gazette,"  published  in  New  London, 
Friday,  Nov.  29,  1776,  is  the  following  paragraph  :  "  On  Tuesday  last  one 
John  Coggin,  late  boatswain  of  'The  Bombrig,'  who,  with  three  other  pris- 
oners, lately  broke  out  of  Windham  jail,  was  found  on  board  of  a  brig  in 
this  harbor.  He  gives  the  following  account  of  said  prisoners  ;  viz.  :  The 
night  after  breaking  out  of  jail,  they,  with  the  help  of  one  Lewis,  who  was 
taken  in  a  prize-vessel,  stole  a  canoe  near  the  Norwich  landing,  with  which 
they  attempted  to  cross  the  sound  to  Long  Island  ;  but  at  the  entrance  of 
the  race,  near  Gull  Island,  the  canoe  overset,  when  all  of  them,  except 
Coggin,  were  drowned,"  &c. 

The  quaint  figure  has  outlived  them  by  a  century,  and  is  as  chubby 
and  fat  and  smiling  to-day  as  when  first  charmed  from  the  pine-log,  and 
released  from  the  Windham  jail.  Many  have  been  the  vicissitudes  through 
which  Father  Time  has  turned  the  relic,  sometimes  nearly  overturning 
it ;  but  it  is  right  side  up  again,  better  off,  if  any  thing,  for  its  tribulations, 
and  good  for  many  a  hundred  years  to  come. 

The  first  experience  of  the  wine-god  was  as  an  ale-sign  in  front  of  the 
Widow  Carey's  inn.    When  the  widow  transferred  herself  to  John  Fitch, 


Edward  G.  Malbone.  —  John  Coles. 


43 


she  transferred  the  Bacchus  to  the  front  of  the  Fitch  Tavern.  By  the 
heirs  of  Fitch  it  was  sold  to  Lucius  Abbee,  landlord  of  the  Stamford 
House,  who  balanced  the  cask  and  its  rider  on  the  limb  of  a  huge  elm  in 
front  of  his  door.  While  on  that  lofty  seat  it  passed  into  the  hands  of 
Zaphney  Curtis  ;  but  it  never  moved  from  the  elm-tree  till  the  September 
gale  of  1856  left  it  on  the  ground  with  an  arm  broken  off,  and  otherwise 
bruised.  Bacchus,  regardless  of  his  dignity  and  good-will,  was  carried 
into  the  wood-shed,  and  left  there  half  buried  in  dust  and  kindlings,  which 
fate  seemed  to  destine  him  to  become  a  part  of.  Fortunately  William 
Cummings  discovered  the  merry  god  in  his  desolation,  and  bought  him  for 
twenty-five  cents.    Then  came  better  days  for  Bacchus. 

He  was  purchased  from  Mr.  Cummings  in  1859,  who  had  secured  com- 
plete repairs  and  a  thorough  renovation.  In  1864  it  went  to  New  York, 
and  was  brought  to  Hartford  in  1872,  where  it  has  since  remained. 

No  more  weather-beating  awaits  the  round,  dimpled  relic.  It  is  care- 
fully housed  and  protected,  and  properly  valued.  A  hundred  years  circle 
that  rimless  crown.  A  hundred  years  have  wound  a  weary  way  before 
the  great  black  eyes.  It  is  nothing  but  a  comical  wooden  image  on  a 
small  wooden  cask,  but  something  sublime  after  all,  something  inspiring 
respect,  something  possessing  a  vast  amount  of  dignity.  And  thus  the 
little  god  Bacchus  is  laid  aside  again  to  sit  at  ease  astride  his  cask,  and 
clasp  and  fondle  the  grapes  in  his  basket. 

EDWARD   G.  MALBONE. 

With  no  intention  of  robbing  Rhode  Island  of  her  famous  Malbone, 
born  in  Newport,  1777,  it  is  yet  necessary  to  explain  a  certain  strong  influ- 
ence for  art,  and  especially  miniature-portrait  painting,  noticeable  at  the 
beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century,  to  say  that  the  great  painter  hon- 
ored the  State  with  his  presence.  The  only  pictures  now  in  known  pos- 
session that  were  painted  during  this  time  are  those  of  a  family  named 
Woodbridge,  and  indicate  that  they  were  painted  about  1798  or  1799. 
It  could  not  well  have  been  earlier;  and  in  1800  the  artist  went  abroad, 
when  his  style  materially  changed. 

JOHN  COLES. 

A  fellow-student  under  Gilbert  Stuart  with  Frothingham,  and  a  life- 
Iriend  of  that  artist,  John  Coles  by  name,  born  1780,  came  into  possession 
of  a  farm  in  Durham,  Conn.,  in  1831,  and  established  himself  in  a  studio 
in  Hartford,  in  a  building,  long  since  demolished,  that  stood  upon  the  cor- 


44 


Art  and  Artists  in  Connecticut. 


ner  of  Main  and  Asylum  Streets.  Three  years  he  spent  continually  in 
Hartford.  Thereafter,  for  fifteen  years,  he  spent  the  summers  on  his  farm, 
and  winters  in  Hartford,  moving  to  Providence  in  1849,  ^-nd  to  Worcester, 
Mass.,  a  short  time  later.  In  1832  Mr.  Frothingham  spoke  of  him  as  the 
finest  portrait-painter  of  America.  This,  however,  appears  something  like 
the  prejudice  of  mutual  admiration;  for  Mr.  Coles  many  times  referred  to 
Frothingham  as  second  only  to  Stuart,  his  master.  Coles  was  a  remarka- 
bly handsome  man  in  figure  and  in  face,  except  for  a  light  marking  of 
small-pox.  His  excellent  figure,  dark  hair  and  eyes,  and  characteristically 
sad  expression,  induced  Mr.  Stuart  to  secure  him  as  the  model  for  Daniel  in 
his  "Nebuchadnezzar's  Feast."  It  is  said  to  be  an  excellent  likeness.  He 
was  a  fatalist,  and,  as  a  principle  of  his  life,  devoted  two  hours  every  day  to 
reading  such  works  as  Newton's  and  Robert  Dale  Owen's.  His  work  was 
good  in  every  sense.  He  had  carefully  mastered  the  laws  ;  but  it  excelled 
in  nothing,  having  no  warmth  of  romance  or  fancy.  He  was  too  matter-of- 
fact,  and  so  was  his  work.  Naturally  an  elegant  convers^.tionalist,  his 
whole  life  was  chilled  by  his  morbid  thoughts.  Naturally  possessing  the 
qualities  of  a  brilliant  artist,  his  work  was  subdued  and  cold  under  the 
same  influence.  The  most  of  his  work  was  in  bust-portrait,  twenty-two 
by  twenty-seven  inches.  He  always  painted  upon  panel,  with  a  lead-col- 
ored background.  His  chief  perfection  was  in  drawing  and  modelling; 
and,  in  all,  much  of  his  work  was  very  fine.  It  is  most  remarkable, 
that,  especially  with  such  a  friend  as  James  Frothingham  possessing  so 
high  an  opinion  of  him,  John  Coles  has  never  received  the  attention  of 
any  historian  or  writer  whatsoever. 


ANSON  DICKINSON. 

One  of  the  early  miniature-portrait  painters  of  Connecticut  was 
Anson  Dickinson,  born  in  Litchfield,  Conn.,  1780.  His  choice  of  pro- 
fession was  that  of  the  silversmith.  He  was  a  man  of  genius,  and  at 
twenty  years  began  painting,  with  no  more  instruction  than  the  inspec- 
tion of  some  of  Malbone's  work  w^iich  he  had  done  in  the  State  a  year 
previous.  His  early  struggles  in  art  were  few.  His  talent  easily  overcame 
all  obstacles.  In  1811  the  best  critics  of  America  pronounced  him  the 
first  miniature-portrait  painter  in  New- York  City ;  but  he  was  too  hand- 
some for  his  own  safety.  Narcissus-like,  waylaid  by  his  own  beauty,  he 
finally  merited  in  some  degree  the  condemnation  which  Mr.  Dunlap  pro- 
nounced upon  him,  —  that  he  was  without  credit  either  to  art  or  to  himself; 
yet  he  was  a  remarkably  fine  artist.  In  18 18  he  went  to  Canada,  married 
a  French-Canadian,  painted  in  Northern  New  England,  and  in  1840 


George  Munger,  —  Samuel  Waldo. 


45 


returned  to  Connecticut,  settled  in  New  Haven,  where  he  painted  for  five 
years  ;  then  moved  to  Hartford,  where  he  painted  until  he  died  late  in 
1847.  His  color  was  excellent,  his  drawing  (according  to  common  ex- 
aggeration) perfect.  His  chief  fault  was,  that  in  endeavoring  to  imitate 
Malbone,  who  had  inspired  him  to  art,  he  followed  so  closely,  that,  without 
that  painter's  power,  many  of  his  pictures  have  a  thin,  washy  appearance. 
He  was  a  man  of  great  personal  energy  and  assurance. 

GEORGE  HUNGER. 

Another  miniature-portrait  painter  of  the  early  days  of  art  in  the  State 
was  George  Hunger,  born  in  Guilford  in  1783.  He  was  a  relative  of 
Anson  Dickinson,  and  they  began  study  together  in  New  Haven  ;  but 
a  severe  attack  of  small-pox  interrupted  Mr.  Hunger's  plans,  and  he  gave 
up  the  work  for  eleven  years.  In  181 5  he  again  found  himself  able  to 
take  up  the  brush.  He  threw  the  pent  enthusiasm  of  all  the  years  of 
silence  into  it,  and  worked  with  such  vehemence,  that  to-day  his  miniatures 
are  honored  where  his  cousin's  are  almost  forgotten.  Personally  he  was 
mild  and  gentle,  but  immovably  determined.  Hr.  Jocelyn  of  New  Haven 
has  a  miniature  by  Hunger,  of  delicate  touch  and  excellent  color,  showing 
a  masterly  handling.  He  expended  every  spark  of  vitality  upon  his  art, 
and,  in  his  weakened  condition,  did  not  physically  sustain  himself.  He 
died  in  1824,  having  lived  two  lives  in  one  in  the  last  eight  years.  He 
left  two  daughters  artistically  inclined,  who  are  mentioned  elsewhere. 

SAMUEL  WALDO. 

One  of  the  best-known  artists  through  the  medium  of  history  is 
Samuel  Waldo,  portrait-painter,  born  in  Windham,  Conn.,  1783.  His  first 
education  in  art  was  gathered  from  the  Rev.  Joseph  Stewart  in  the  old 
Huseum  Hall.  He  began  his  practice  of  art  in  Litchfield,  and,  having 
laid  up  a  convenient  sum  in  an  incredibly  short  time,  went  to  New  York 
for  a  year  of  study ;  then  sailed  for  London,  where  he  was  received 
as  a  pupil  of  Benjamin  West,  and  studied  for  three  years.  Returning,  he 
spent  his  life  in  painting  in  New  York  and  Hartford ;  and  died  Feb.  16, 
1861. 

In  Hartford  his  studio  was  in  Exchange  Corner.  His  invariable  polite- 
ness and  dignity  secured  for  him  a  large  circle  of  friends,  and  abundant 
orders  every  time  he  came  to  the  city;  which  rendered  his  visits  fortunately 
frequent,  and  often  of  considerable  length.  It  may  not  be  said  that  in  any 
one  particular  his  work  excels  that  of  other  artists ;  but  he  stood  above 


46 


Art  and  Artists  in  Connecticut, 


most  in  his  day  as  the  result  of  untiring  faithfulness  to  every  detail. 
This  corresponds  with  the  first  advice  he  gave  his  pupil  and  final  partner, 
Jewett  :  When  you  paint  a  coat-sleeve,  paint  it  as  carefully  as  you  paint 
an  eye."  When  death  claimed  him,  at  the  age  of  seventy-eight,  he  was 
still  before  his  easel,  and  left  a  copy  of  one  of  Stuart's  pictures  half 
finished,  which  he  was  making  on  an  order.  One  of  his  best  paintings  is  a 
bust-portrait  of  himself  in  the  National  Academy.  Another  excellent 
portrait  is  a  three-quarter  length  of  the  artist  Henry  C.  Shumway  in  his 
official  uniform.  The  flesh-tints  are  especially  admirable,  and  even  the 
silver  belt-plate  is  a  valuable  study  in  itself.  Mr.  Waldo  was  one  of  the 
best  art-critics  of  his  day;  bold  and  fearless  in  his  judgment,  but  univer- 
sally respected  for  his  kind-hearted  generosity.  His  work  is  perhaps 
better  known  under  the  firm-name  of  Waldo  &  Jewett.  A  sketch  of  Mr. 
Jewett  is  inserted  later. 

GEORGE  FREEMAN. 

Among  the  names  unfortunately  forgotten  by  historians  is  that  of 
George  Freeman,  born  at  Spring  Hill,  near  Mansfield  Centre,  Conn.,  April 
21,  1789.  He  was  a  painter  of  miniature  portraits  on  porcelain  and  ivory, 
and  of  no  small  repute  either  in  England  or  America.  His  father  was 
a  farmer  of  very  moderate  means,  and  all  that  he  was  in  later  years 
resulted  from  his  own  personal  efforts.  Of  the  earlier  pictures  of  his 
painting  that  remain  are  one  of  Mrs.  Sigourney,  and  several  in  possession 
of  Mrs.  H.  B.  Beach  of  Hartford,  executed  about  18 10.  In  18 13  he  went 
abroad,  remaining  in  Europe  twenty-four  years  ;  which  accounts  for  Mr. 
Dunlap's  oversight.  He  returned  without  warning,  and  took  dinner  with 
his  father,  telling  him  he  had  met  his  son  in  London,  without  being  recog- 
nized. While  abroad,  he  studied  in  Paris  and  London.  In  the  latter  city 
his  work  was  highly  praised,  and  he  received  the  distinguished  honor  of 
being  allowed  to  paint  Queen  Victoria  and  Prince  Albert  from  life.  He 
died  in  Hartford  March  7,  1868. 

GEORGE  FRANCIS. 

Long  and  well  known  for  other  good  qualities,  George  Francis  also  pos- 
sessed a  taste  and  talent  for  art,  that,  though  hidden  under  a  bushel,  was 
yet  enough  before  the  public  to  identify  his  name  with  the  art  of  the  State. 
He  was  born  in  Hartford  in  1790,  and  died  there  1873.  He  studied  draw- 
ing under  Benjamin  West,  and  coloring  with  Washington  Allston  ;  but 
his  father  left  a  large  business  in  carriage-making  in  such  a  way  that  his 
son  was  literally  obliged  to  take  it  up.    Thereafter  art  ceased  to  be  a  pro- 


Hezekiah  Augur, 


47 


fession  ;  but  to  the  end  of  his  life  it  was  an  entertaining  pastime.  At  the 
end  of  the  shop  he  had  enclosed  a  small  studio,  where  he  designed  the 
ornamental  work  for  sleighs  and  carriages,  and  occasionally  painted  a 
portrait  or  a  landscape.  Never  having  known  in  art  the  sweet  hand  that 
brought  bread  to  a  hungry  family,  or  the  lovely  goddess  saying  to  the 
patient  plodder,  "  Friend,  go  up  higher,"  he  failed,  of  course,  in  the  pure 
devotion  that  must  be  a  part  of  the  successful  artist ;  but  his  pictures 
have  a  decided  merit,  and  much  artistic  skill.  In  the  effect  of  light  and 
shade  he  was  particularly  successful.  Mr.  Francis  was  a  genial,  social 
man,  an  active  member  of  the  first  temperance  society,  and  a  man  thor- 
oughly respected.  It  was  a  boast  of  his  later  years,  that  he  had  never 
been  sick  for  a  day  in  his  life.  This  was  strangely  carried  to  the  end  ;  and 
when  eighty-three,  in  perfect  health,  he  was  stricken  with  a  paralytic 
shock,  from  which  he  never  regained  consciousness. 

His  grand-daughter  Miss  Fannie  Francis,  now  studying  at  Wellesley, 
seems  to  have  gathered  up  his  mantle.  She  has  already  painted  several 
landscape-scenes  that  in  drawing  are  very  good,  and  in  color  promise 
much  for  the  future. 

HEZEKIAH  AUGUR. 

The  first  Connecticut  sculptor  was  Hezekiah  Augur,  born  in  New 
Haven,  February,  1791,  the  son, of  a  carpenter.  Augur,  as  a  boy,  enjoyed 
his  father's  trade  :  he  enjoyed  it  more  than  his  father  did.  At  eight  years 
old  he  "preferred  the  confines  of  the  shop  to  fighting  schoolfellows," 
to  quote  from  a  letter  of  his  writing.  This  mildness  of  temper  was  to 
some  extent  unfortunate,  preventing  him  from  fighting  his  way  into  art 
till  over  thirty-four  years  old ;  though  from  childhood  he  was  an  artist. 
He  had  better  have  left  carving  wood  with  his  father's  tools  now  and  then, 
and  gone  out  and  fought  his  schoolfellows.  The  experience  would  have 
been  good  for  him. 

His  father  did  not  like  this  carving  and  cutting,  having  that  objection 
to  his  own  business  so  common  to  the  paternal  mind.  He  put  the  boy 
under  a  grocer,  when  nine  years  old,  to  ''learn  a  trade."  Hezekiah  did 
learn  a  trade.  The  grocer  could  make  and  mend  shoes  ;  and,  counting  it 
better  to  be  a  doorkeeper  in  art  than  a  nabob  in  merchandise,  Hezekiah 
applied  himself  to  the  awl.  When  the  time  for  which  he  was  bound 
expired,  he  issued  an  abominably  poor  grocer,  but  a  proficient  cobbler. 
Shoemaking  was  not  in  his  father's  programme  for  his  son.  He  presented 
him  with  two  thousand  dollars  and  a  position  in  a  firm  of  reputedly  hon- 
orable men  as  partner  in  the  dry-goods  business.  This  was  a  mistake  on 
the  part  of  all  concerned.    It  was  the  great  blunder  of  Hezekiah  Augur's 


48 


Art  and  Artists  in  Connecticut. 


life.  He  knew  his  desires  and  ambition  ;  and  instead  of  passing  unob- 
jectingly,  as  he  admits,  into  one  plan  or  another,  he  should  have  asserted 
himself,  and  let  Art  claim  her  own.  His  partnership  continued  but  three 
years  ;  when,  he  never  knew  precisely  how,  it  was  demonstrated  to  him 
that  his  two  thousand  dollars  were  not  only  disposed  of,  but  that  he  stood 
indebted  to  the  rest  of  the  firm  to  the  amount  of  seven  thousand  dollars 
more.  By  nature  keenly  sensitive,  the  sudden  fall,  after  having  lived  upon 
the  most  social  terms  in  the  best  society  of  New  Haven,  was  a  bitter 
blow,  from  which  he  did  not  easily  recover.  He  found  the  truth  of  the 
old  adage,  that  wealth  makes  honorable  men  at  a  cost  of  much  suffering  ; 
and,  wholly  dropped  and  forgotten  by  his  old  associates,  he  opened  a  little 
fruit-stand,  where,  in  a  sense,  he  succeeded.  Here  he  reverted  to  de- 
serted art  again,  and  carved  elaborately  a  mahogany  case  for  a  musical 
instrument  which  he  had  made.  It  was  only  by  chance  that  this  ever  saw 
the  light.  After  keeping  it  for  some  time  in  secret,  he  took  it  to  a  cabinet- 
maker to  varnish.  The  fine  workmanship  displayed  secured  him  work 
and  good  pay,  carving  the  legs  of  mahogany  chairs  and  ornaments  for  two 
years.  At  the  end  of  that  time,  having  saved  a  considerable  sum,  he 
committed  another  blunder  in  paying  up  as  much  as  he  could  of  his  in- 
debtedness to  the  dry-goods  firm.  Encouraged  by  this,  they  began  a  sys- 
tem of  dunning,  that  so  alarmed  Mr.  Augur,  that  he  sold  out  his  fruit-stand 
and  carving  business.  The  short,  thin  man,  with  light-brown  hair,  an  ex- 
ceptionally fair,  almost  florid  complexion,  who  was  forever  carving  behind 
the  counter,  was  missed  from  the  fruit-stand  ;  but  the  general  opinion 
among  his  former  friends  was  that  it  was  only  another  failure,  for  which 
the  first  had  made  him  famous. 

In  the  seclusion  into  which  his  sensitiveness  and  timidity  forced  him 
he  completed  an  invention  for  making  worsted  lace,  which  brought  him 
a  large  price,  and  at  once  enabled  him  to  free  himself  from  debt.  At 
almost  the  same  time  his  father  died :  and,  all  constraint  being  removed 
at  the  eleventh  hour,  he  turned  his  whole  soul  toward  art ;  though  he  said 
for  himself  of  this  final  devotion,  With  a  life-blot  behind  me,  my  only 
ambition  is  to  drown  memory  and  reflection  in  a  pleasant  pastime."  In 
1847  he  also  brought  out  a  carving-machine,  which  is  still  used  in  several 
factories  for  carving  piano-legs.  He  originated  many  inventions  in  the 
course  of  his  life ;  one  of  the  more  prominent  being  one  rarely  credited 
to  him,  —  that  of  producing  the  first  bracket-saw. 

He  carved  so  finely  in  wood,  that  Professor  Morse  urged  him  to  attempt 
a  work  in  marble.  His  first  endeavor  was  upon  the  head  of  Apollo. 
He  went  at  his  marble,  as  he  had  his  wood,  with  no  more  of  a  model 
than  his  own  fancy  furnished  him.    This,  of  course,  necessitated  exceed- 


Georgia  Cardelli. 


49 


ingly  slow  work,  and  increased  the  timidity  of  expression ;  but  the  result 
was  exciting  and  encouraging.  He  then  produced  a  head  of  Washington 
and  a  figure  of  Sappho ;  and  his  fame  was  secure,  so  far  as  purely  native 
talent,  with  no  education  whatever,  could  win  it. 

He  did  some  work  on  orders  from  New  Haven  and  Hartford  ;  but  his 
skill,  though  so  remarkable,  was  not  such  as  was  calculated  to  yield  a  large 
income,  except  as  works  of  his  fancy  might  sell.  On  an  order  from  Con- 
gress, he  made  a  bust  of  Chief  Justice  Ellsworth,  that  now  stands  in  the 
Supreme-Court  room  in  Washington. 

Mr.  Augur's  great  work,  and  one  that  merits  all  the  fame  it  achieved 
for  its  author,  is  the  often-quoted  pair  of  marble  statuettes,  ''Jephthah  and 
his  Daughter."  The  remarkable  feature,  of  course,  is  that  they  are  carved 
without  model.  But  in  themselves,  though  expressing  the  faults  natural 
to  such  a  course,  they  possess  much  that  is  indicative  of  an  exceptionally 
high  rank  of  ability.  In  each  the  expression  of  face  and  limb,  and  the 
characteristic  unity  throughout,  are  worthy  of  great  commendation.  The 
head  of  the  "Daughter"  is  particularly  fine  in  the  arrangement  of  the 
hair.  He  invited  Washington  Allston  to  criticise  the  work.  Relating 
the  fact  to  a  friend,  he  said,  "  Mr.  Allston  walked  about  them  for  thirty 
minutes  without  speaking,  and  the  perspiration  poured  from  me  like  rain 
during  the  whole  half-hour." 

Both  in  character  and  ability  he  was  a  man  well  fitted  to  hold  a  much 
higher  position  than  circumstances  ever  allowed  him  to  occupy.  In 
1833  he  was  made  an  honorary  member  of  the  alumni  of  Yale  College. 
He  died  in  January,  1858,  with  much,  yet  little,  left  behind  as  the  result  of 
his  life's  labor. 

GEORGIO  CARDELLI. 

There  was  an  Italian,  Georgio  Cardelli,  born  in  Florence  in  1791,  who 
there  learned  the  double  profession  of  sculpture  and  painting,  who  came  to 
New  York  in  1816.  His  patronage  was  not  extensive  at  the  first;  but  in 
a  year  he  received  the  distinguished  honor  of  an  order  from  Mr.  Trumbull 
for  a  bust  of  himself  and  Mrs.  Trumbull.  The  casts  were  prepared  ;  but, 
finding  fault  with  them,  Mr.  Trumbull  refused  to  take  them.  The  sculp- 
tor became  excited.  Mr.  Trumbull  in  turn  remarked,  But  you  cannot 
be  a  popular  sculptor  in  New  York  if  I  refuse  to  indorse  you."  There- 
upon Cardelli  declared  he  would  no  longer  be  a  sculptor  of  New  York  at 
all ;  and,  leaving  his  sculptor's  tools,  he  took  brush  and  easel,  as  of  easier 
transportation,  and  became  an  itinerant.  Hartford  received  two  visits  from 
Cardelli,  in  each  of  which  he  professedly  settled  down  for  life,  but  event- 
ually moved  on.    It  was  1820  when  he  first  appeared,  and  Italy-educated 


50 


Art  and  Artists  in  Connecticut, 


artists  were  not  so  plenty  that  they  could  be  despised.  He  received 
orders,  and  became  very  popular  among  the  first  families  of  the  city. 
Among  those  of  his  works  remaining  in  the  city,  one  is  in  possession  of 
the  family  of  the  late  Ezra  Clark,  and  one  in  the  Wadsworth  Gallery. 
They  are  hard,  lifeless  pictures,  thoroughly  Florentine,  but  said  to  be  ex- 
cellent likenesses.  Georgio  Cardelli  was  not  a  man  to  be  trifled  with. 
Those  in  the  city  who  remember  him  as  a  gloomy  cloud  over  their  child- 
hood recall  with  a  shudder  a  lowering,  black-eyed,  long  black-haired, 
wrinkled,  highly  excitable  savage,  whom  none  of  them  dared  look  at 
except  from  behind  a  chair,  and  their  fathers  dare  not  criticise  for  love  of 
their  lives. 


Massachusetts  glories  in  producing  one  of  the  greatest  men  ever  born 
on  the  free  soil  of  America.  It  was  at  the  foot  of  Breed's  Hill,  April, 
1 79 1,  —  whither  the  reverend  geographer  and  philosopher,  Jedediah  Morse, 
D.D.,  had  moved,  to  accept  a  pastorate,  from  Woodstock,  Conn.,  —  that 
Samuel  F.  B.  Morse  was  born.   As  all  of  the  ancestors  of  Professor  Morse 


for  ages  were  wisely  and  well  honored  citizens  of  Connecticut,  as  his 
education  was  gained  in  the  State,  and  as  nearly  all  of  his  art-life  spent 
in  America  passed  while  his  home  was  in  Connecticut,  it  may  not  appear 
like  robbing  another  State  to  claim  the  honor  of  recognizing  among  the 
artists  of  Connecticut  the  very  great  artist,  Samuel  F.  B.  Morse. 


SAMUEL  FINLEY  BREESE  MORSE. 


SAMUEL  F.  B.  MORSE. 


Samuel  Finley  Breese  Morse, 


51 


His  predilections  in  favor  of  art  were  early  and  strongly  expressed. 
When  but  four  years  old,  he  was  caught  in  the  act  of  caricaturing  his 
schoolmistress  with  a  pin  on  a  case  of  drawers.  He  was  born  of  a  race 
of  thinkers;  and  this  trait,  too,  was  early  developed  in  the  lad,  who  at 
fourteen  passed  the  examination  successfully,  entering  Yale  College.  For 
domestic  reasons,  his  father  saw  fit  to  withhold  him  a  year ;  so  that  he  en- 
tered with  the  class  in  1807,  when,  he  passed  honorably  through  four  years 
of  study,  partially  supporting  himself  in  the  course  of  it  by  painting  por- 
traits. He  received  for  these  crude  specimens  of  purely  native  ability,  in 
the  shape  of  miniatures  on  ivory,  five  dollars  each,  the  sitter  furnishing 
his  own  ivory ;  and  for  a  profile-drawing  one  dollar,  which,  he  says  in  a 
letter,  very  many  of  the  students  afforded.  He  was  of  Puritanical  ances- 
try ;  and  this  was  evident  throughout  his  life  in  a  character  of  spotless 
purity,  integrity,  and  nobility. 

On  graduating,  the  grave  question  of  the  future  was  presented  in  all 
its  solemnity  by  his  forethoughtful  father,  and  received  the  response,  "  I 
think  I  am  cut  out  for  a  painter."  Dr.  Morse  was  no  man  to  make  light 
of  a  sober  thought,  and  at  once  proceeded,  in  his  energetic  way,  to  place 
at  his  son's  command  every  facility.  The  result  was  six  months'  study 
in  America  under  Washington  Allston,  and  four  successive  years  of  study 
and  intimacy  with  him  immediately  thereafter  in  England.  Among  his 
first  accomplishments  of  note  and  celebrity  was  his  Dying  Hercules." 
The  original  clay  model  and  the  large  oil-painting  from  it  are  in  the  Yale 
Art  Building.  It  was  undertaken  at  the  suggestion  of  his  master  All- 
ston, who  often  modelled  before  he  painted,  and  was  at  first  perfected  in 
but  one  view,  —  that  required  for  his  painting.  The  work  was  so  admira- 
bly done,  that  Allston  insisted  upon  his  completing  it.  It  received  the 
gold  medal  for  superiority  in  original  modelling  in  England,  though  the 
war  of  181 2  was  at  its  height.  Returning,  Mr.  Morse  made  several  unsat- 
isfactory endeavors  to  establish  himself  as  an  historical  painter.  He  ac- 
cepted the  inevitable,  and  for  support  became  a  portrait-painter.  He 
married  a  lady  of  inestimable  sweetness  and  moral  worth,  and  in  1820 
moved  with  his  own  and  his  father's  family  to  New  Haven.  Through  the 
greater  part  of  the  fall  and  the  early  winter  of  1821  he  painted  portraits 
in  Hartford,  receiving  only  fifteen  dollars  apiece  for  them ;  but  determined 
to  do  "  even  that,  or  more,  sooner  than  fall  into  debt."  In  the  winter  of 
1 82 1  he  was  working  upon  his  much-abused  and  exceedingly  fine  picture  of 
"The  House  and  Senate  at  Washington,"  at  which,  as  an  evidence  of  the 
nature  of  the  man,  he  worked  for  sixteen  hours  a  day,  and  so  enthusias- 
tically, that  once  he  got  up  at  midnight,  after  an  hour's  sleep,  prepared 
himself  for  work,  and  attempted  to  paint  before  he  discovered  that  it 


52 


Art  and  Artists  in  Connecticut. 


was  moonlight,  and  not  sunrise ;  and  at  another  time  attempted  to 
enter  the  hall  to  begin  sketching  on  Sunday,  having  forgotten  the  cal- 
endar. 

In  1822,  while  painting  in  New  Haven,  Mr.  Morse  presented  the  Yale- 
College  Library  with  five  hundred  dollars.  This  was,  perhaps,  the  most 
munificent  gift  ever  contributed,  when  the  circumstances  are  considered; 
for,  not  six  months  later,  when  a  hall-thief  stole  the  artist's  hat,  he  wrote, 
that,  to  buy  another,  he  was  obliged  to  break  the  last  five-dollar  bill  he 
possessed,  and  had  no  knowledge  of  where  the  next  was  coming  from.  In 
his  later  prosperity  he  exhibited  the  same  generosity  in  presenting  to  the 


"the  sisters."  —  BY  S.  F.  B.  MORSE. 


art-gallery  of  the  college  a  painting  of  Allston's  for  which  he  paid  seven 
thousand  dollars.  In  1824  he  was  appointed  upon  the  Mexican  Commis- 
sion, and  left  for  Washington  in  high  hopes  of  receiving  great  profit  from 
such  a  trip.  On  reaching  Washington  he  learned  that  the  commission 
had  been  abandoned.  The  following  winter  better  times  appeared  on  the 
horizon  in  a  government  order  for  a  portrait  of  Gen.  LaFayette.  He  went 
again  to  Washington,  and  had  secured  two  sittings,  when  news  reached 
him  of  the  sudden  death  of  his  wife,  to  whom  he  was  bound  heart  and 
life. 

The  house  in  which  Mr.  Morse  lived  while  in  New  Haven  was  a  low- 
roofed  cottage,  nearly  upon  the  site  of  the  present  Yale  Art  Building. 


Samuel  Finley  Breese  Morse. 


53 


The  appearance  of  the  artist  was  very  different  from  that  of  the  inventor 
of  the  telegraph  system.  His  hair  was  short,  and  his  face  smooth-shaven  ; 
but  the  character  of  the  schoolboy,  the  collegiate,  the  art-student,  the 
painter,  the  writer,  the  chemist,  the  lecturer,  the  inventor  of  the  engine, 
the  master  of  the  telegraph,  was  one  and  the  same  throughout,  —  the 
exemplification  of  every  thing  that  makes  the  noble,  honorable  man. 

Several  of  the  artist's  finest  works  are  owned  in  Connecticut.  That  of 
Mrs.  D.  C.  DeForest,  which  now  hangs  in  the  Yale  Art  Building,  has  one 
of  the  most  perfect  hands  ever  put  upon  canvas.  The  face  also  is  soft, 
sweet,  and  wonderfully  life-like.  Two  portraits,  that  are  among  his  remark- 
able productions,  have  fortunately  come  into  possession  of  the  Hartford 
Historical  Society  through  the  generosity  of  Walter  Chester,  Esq.,  of  New 
York.  They  are  portraits  of  Judge  Mitchell  and  his  wife.  The  family 
were  anxious  to  secure  the  portrait  of  the  judge;  but  the  old  gentleman 
stubbornly  refused.  Mrs.  Mitchell  set  herself  to  the  task  of  outwitting  her 
lord,  and  was  victorious.  Mr.  Morse  was  engaged  to  paint  her  portrait. 
The  judge  readily  complied  with  that  request.  Mr.  Morse  was  invited  to 
board  at  the  house  while  painting,  and,  when  the  work  was  done,  received 
his  pay  for  two  oil-paintings  instead  of  one.  The  faces  are  both  admirable, 
heavily  painted,  with  fine  effect.  They  show  the  difference  in  the  mode 
of  work,  the  judge's  face  being  somewhat  more  constrained.  They  are  low 
in  tone,  warm  in  color,  living,  thinking  portraits.  The  judge  evidently 
belonged  to  the  snuff-takers,  and  his  mouth  is  pursed  as  though  half  smil- 
ing under  the  effects  of  an  after-dinner  snuff.  The  lady's  face  combines 
the  sweetest  graces  of  nature  and  art.  The  merry  eye  is  wreathed  with 
the  wrinkles  of  age.  The  oval  but  wrinkled  cheeks  are  surrounded  with  a 
finely  painted  lace  cap,  and  the  lace  puffs  about  the  neck  and  over  the 
bosom  display  a  proficiency  rarely  attained.  The  painting  by  Morse 
lately  presented  to  the  Lenox  Gallery  by  Mr.  Osborne  of  New  York  was 
found  at  an  auction,  and  bought  against  competitors  who  were  absolutely 
ignorant  of  what  they  were  bidding  for ;  which  accounts  for  the  very 
low  price  paid  for  it  by  Mr.  Osborne.  Professor  Morse  had  also  a  rare 
gift  in  his  power  of  clothing  his  thoughts  with  words  in  exceptionally  fine 
poetry.  "The  Serenade,"  published  in  "The  Talisman"  while  he  was  in 
New  Haven,  was  a  beautiful  composition  both  written  and  illustrated  by 
himself. 

When  the  present  Emperor  of  Brazil  visited  the  Yale  Art  Building  he 
was  particularly  interested  in  the  works  of  Professor  Morse,  and,  receiving 
a  gift  of  his  portrait,  pressed  it  to  his  heart,  exclaiming  in  English,  "  I  shall 
conserve  this."  Professor  Morse  was  not  always  the  meek  man  commonly 
appearing.    The  scar  in  his  forehead  was  the  mark  of  a  British  soldier's 


54 


Art  and  Artists  in  Connecticut. 


bayonet,  received  while  he  was  waiting  in  a  dense  throng  to  see  the 
United  Sovereigns  "  pass.  Mr.  Morse  was  not  politically  prepossessed 
in  favor  of  the  British  at  the  time,  and  instantly  grappled  with  the  soldier. 
He  was  fortunately  dragged  away  by  friends  in  the  crowd  before  his  name 
was  learned.  He  was  an  earnest  patriot,  and  at  times,  during  the  war  of 
1812,  was  unable  to  work  for  days  together.  The  same  enthusiasm,  though 
not  always  obvious,  marked  every  action  of  his  life.  In  art  Mr.  Morse  was 
essentially  a  colorist.  His  work  is  doubtless  very  uneven  ;  but  the  best 
indicates  the  man,  while  the  poorest  but  signifies  that  still  grander 
thoughts  were  drawing  his  mind  from  the  canvas. 

ALVIN  FISHER. 

Born  in  Needham  in  1792,  Alvin  Fisher,  when  twenty-four  years  old, 
began  jDortrait-painting  on  an  education  gained  chiefly  from  observation. 
After  a  year  he  gave  up  portraits  for  farm-scenes,  in  which  he  was  very 
successful.  In  1820  he  returned  to  portrait-painting,  and  thereafter  com- 
bined the  two.  In  1822  Mr.  Fisher  established  himself  in  Hartford.  His 
work  was  chiefly  pastoral,  that  class  of  paintings  being  almost  a  novelty  in 
the  State.  Among  his  more  important  works  was  one  of  Niagara  Falls, 
which  was  engraved  by  Asaph  Willard.  He  painted  in  Hartford  for  three 
years,  and,  as  the  first  pastoral  painter  of  importance  to  visit  the  State, 
produced  an  impression  and  influence  visible  afterward.  He  left  for  an 
extended  trip  and  study  in  Europe,  and,  returning,  settled  in  Boston.  He 
died  at  Dedham  Feb.  14,  1863. 

GEORGE  CATLIN. 

One  of  the  large  family  of  Catlins  emanating  from  Litchfield,  Conn., 
George  Catlin,  born  in  Wyoming  Valley,  Penn.,  1793,  returned  to  his 
father's  home  to  study  law.  He  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  Litchfield,  and 
that  closed  his  legal  career.  He  went  to  West  Point ;  when,  after  estab- 
lishing the  foundation  for  a  military  life,  he  moved  to  Philadelphia,  and  at 
once  devoted  himself,  life  and  limb,  to  the  acquirement  of  a  thorough 
knowledge  of  art.  As  a  profession  he  carried  art  a  little  beyond  his  former 
studies,  into  a  very  moderate  use.  He  had  a  studio  in  Hartford  for  a 
short  time  in  1824.  Ex-Gov.  Catlin  of  Hartford  has  a  portrait  of  his  father 
painted  by  the  artist  in  Litchfield,  expressive  of  perfect  composure  and 
knowledge  of  art,  and  of  no  small  amount  of  ability,  but  lacking  in  warmth 
and  delicacy.  Leaving  Hartford,  Mr.  Catlin  moved  his  studio  to  New 
York,  and.  May  3,  1825,  was  elected  to  the  National  Academy.    The  most 


Edwin  Percival. 


55 


important  order  which  Mr.  Catlin  received  was  from  the  State  of  New 
York,  through  Mrs.  CHnton,  for  a  portrait  of  Gov.  DeWitt  Clinton.  Pro- 
fessor Morse  had  painted  a  portrait  of  the  governor  when  in  one  of  his 
absent-minded  moods,  and  made  an  utter  faikire  of  it.  Mr.  Catlin  was  a 
friend  of  the  family ;  and,  when  the  portrait  was  to  be  painted  for  the  City 
Hall,  Mrs.  Clinton  insisted  that  Catlin  should  paint  it :  unfortunately  this 
resulted  in  one  of  the  poorest  portraits  in  the  governor's  room.  For  the 
spring  exhibition  of  1826  he  painted  Mrs.  Clinton's  portrait  and  several 
others.  His  pictures  did  not  receive  the  attention  he  supposed  they 
deserved ;  and  he  indignantly  withdrew  them,  and  sent  in  his  resignation 
as  an  academician,  which  was  accepted  May  3,  1826.  Action  in  his  pic- 
tures is  generally  well  expressed,  the  effect  is  good,  but  the  modelling  is 
always  seriously  defective.  In  1832  Mr.  Catlin  started  upon  his  trip 
among  the  Indians,  which  made  him  famous  in  both  America  and  Europe, 
through  the  almost  endless  use  he  made  of  it,  as  well  as  of  a  trip  of  explo- 
ration in  Africa,  laying  up  resources  which  profited  him  afterward  in  the 
lecture-field,  in  books,  in  exhibitions,  in  galleries  of  sketches,  in  cabinets 
of  curiosities,  and  many  other  ways.  In  1842  he  moved  to  London, 
where,  as  an  elegant  conversationalist,  a  brilliant  writer,  overflowing  with 
wit,  anecdote,  and  information,  he  was  much  admired  and  sought  after. 
In  1874  he  exhibited  and  sold  at  auction  his  entire  collection  of  Indian 
sketches  and  relics ;  and  a  year  after,  a  white-haired,  very  deaf  old  man 
came  to  the  close  of  his  eventful  life  as  a  lawyer,  a  soldier,  an  artist,  a 
showman,  an  explorer,  a  lecturer,  an  historian,  and  a  tourist,  that,  after 
all,  through  its  own  versatility  failed  to  register  in  any  way  proportionate 
with  itself. 

EDWIN  PERCIVAL. 

A  brother  of  the  poet  Percival,  and  James  G.  Percival  the  actor,  Ed- 
win Percival,  fully  as  eccentric  and  possibly  as  gifted  as  either,  was  born 
in  Kensington,  Conn.,  1793.  In  1830  he  came  to  Hartford  to  study  art; 
assigning  no  reason  for  this  sudden  determination,  but  evincing  much  taste 
and  considerable  talent.  Three  years  later  he  went  to  Albany  in  partner- 
ship with  Henry  Bryant.  His  drawing  was  always  good,  and  in  color  his 
pictures  are  pleasing.  He  excelled  in  ideal  sketches.  ''Three  Daughters 
of  Job  "  was  the  best  work  that  came  from  his  easel,  and  gained  for  him, 
very  justly,  an  enviable  local  reputation.  He  was  a  man  of  excellent  edu- 
cation and  culture,  but  subject  to  attacks  of  the  most  depressing  melan- 
choly. He  went  from  Albany  to  Troy,  N.Y.,  and  there,  under  the  influ- 
ence of  one  of  these  despondencies,  resolved  that  he  would  eat  nothing 
more.    He  literally  starved  to  death. 


56 


Art  and  Artists  in  Connecticut, 


WILLIAM  JEWETT. 

The  pupil  and  partner  of  Samuel  Waldo,  William  Jewett,  was  born  in 
East  Haddam,  Conn.,  Feb.  14,  1795.  The  doorway  through  which  he 
entered  art  was  the  proverbial  carriage-shop.  After  serving  his  appren- 
ticeship there,  Mr.  Waldo  engaged  him  to  grind  colors,  and,  being  pleased 
with  the  lad,  took  him  into  his  family.  The  young  student  worked  so 
thoroughly  into  his  master's  manner,  that  in  time  a  partnership  was 
formed,  in  which  both  worked  upon  the  same  picture,  and  only  the  most 
experienced  could  detect  the  individual  work  of  either.  As  Mr.  Jewett 
did  very  little  single-handed  work,  it  is  impossible  to  form  any  distinct 
criticism.  That  he  satisfied  so  critical  an  artist  as  Samuel  Waldo  is  evi- 
dence sufficient  of  his  ability.  He  was  a  quiet,  retiring  man,  with  little  to 
say,  and  better  satisfied  to  be  alone  than  in  society. 

DANIEL  DICKINSON, 

a  younger  brother  of  Anson  Dickinson,  was  born  in  Litchfield,  Conn.,  in 
1795.  In  181 2,  Daniel  Dickinson,  following  the  path  of  his  brother,  went 
to  New  Haven  to  study  art.  Finding  no  favorable  opening,  but  meeting 
with  Mr.  Jocelyn,  who  was  then  studying  drawing  by  himself,  he  adopted 
the  same  method.  He  was  almost  unconsciously  drawn  into  miniature- 
portrait  painting;  and  the  leisure  time  of  his  experimental  years  in  art  was 
devoted  to  fancy  sketches,  many  of  which  were  very  attractive  and  popu- 
lar. This  work  consisted  chiefly  in  arranging  the  female  figure  in  every 
conceivable  graceful  attitude  :  some  of  the  sketches  possessed  much  artis- 
tic merit.  In  1830  he  moved  his  studio  to  Philadelphia,  and  began  the 
study  of  oil-painting.  In  this  he  was  so  successful  and  well  patronized, 
that  he  remained  through  a  long  life  in  that  city.  He  has  never  received 
historical  notice,  as  can  be  discovered,  though,  in  point  of  ability,  not  far 
inferior  to  his  brother. 

NATHANIEL  JOCELYN. 

The  patriarch  of  American  art  (being  to-day  the  oldest  native  artist  of 
notoriety  living),  Nathaniel  Jocclyn,  is  still  actively  engaged  in  his  studio 
in  New  Haven,  where  he  was  born  Jan.  31,  1796,  six  months  before  his 
next  fellow-laborer,  Ashur  B.  Durand.  As  with  Mr.  Durand,  his  father 
was  a  watchmaker ;  and  the  boy  was  fed  upon  the  understanding,  that,  in 
the  common  course  of  things,  he  was  to  follow  him.  His  early  inclina- 
tions toward  the  creative  art  were  easily  satisfied  with  this  prospect ;  and, 
when  twelve  years  old,  his  father  boasted  of  him  that  he  knew  every  wheel 


Nathaniel  yocelyn. 


57 


and  screw  in  the  best  watch  in  the  country.  Wheels  and  screws,  however, 
did  not  long  satisfy  the  measure  of  the  young  man's  ambition.  When 
only  fifteen,  he  began,  with  himself  as  instructor,  a  thorough  course  of 
study  in  drawing,  and  three  years  later  apprenticed  himself  to  an  engraver. 
When  twenty-one,  he  entered  into  partnership  with  Tisdale,  Dantforth,  & 
Willard,  in  the  Hartford  Graphic  and  Bank-Note  Engraving  Company,  and 
later,  with  Mr.  Dantforth,  virtually  founded  the  National  Bank-Note  En- 
graving Company.  The  work  that  fell  to  him  in  this  was  the  lettering, 
which  did  not  please  him  ;  and  in  1820  he  gave  up  engraving,  changing 
the  graver  for  the  pencil,  with  which  he  started  at  once  for  Savannah,  Ga., 
as  a  portrait-painter.    The  spirit  which  prompted  and  the  courage  which 


NATHANIEL  JOCELYN. 


accomplished  this  bold  step  are  worthy  accessories  to  a  successful  career. 
He  remained  but  a  short  time  at  the  South,  returning  much  benefited  by 
the  experience,  to  establish  himself  in  New  Haven.  An  enthusiastic 
spirit  tempted  him  beyond  the  confine-s  of  art  into  large  real-estate 
transactions,  —  laying  out  streets,  and  inaugurating  many  im.provements 
that  are  the  pride  of  New  Haven  to-day.  For  a  time  he  continued  before 
his  easel,  and  to  the  first  exhibition  of  the  National  Academy,  on  Reade 
Street  and  Broadway,  1826,  sent  several  portraits  which  Mr.  Dunlap 
pronounced  unqualifiedly  meritorious.  But  he  gradually  became  so  deeply 
drawn  into  his  ventures,  that  he  left  his  studio  entirely ;  and  in  the  crisis 
of  1843  he  was  ingulfed.    However  uncomfortable,  this  v^as  a  fortunate 


58  Art  and  Artists  in  Connecticut. 

thing  for  his  art ;  for  it  drove  him  again  to  his  easel  for  support.  In 
1829  he  went  abroad  chiefly  upon  matters  of  other  business.  Aided,  how- 
ever, by  a  ready  perception  of  opportunity  that  has  characterized  his  Hfe, 
he  formed  many  valuable  acquaintances,  and  gained  much  information  in 
matters  of  art.  He  travelled  southward  from  London  with  Professor 
Morse,  entering  Paris  with  him  on  New-Year's  Day,  1830. 


"  CINQUE."  — FROM  LIFE,  BY  NATHANIEL  JOCELYN. 


In  1834  Mr.  Dunlap  said  of  the  artist's  apartments,  "He  is  estab- 
lished in  the  most  eligible  suite  of  rooms  for  painting  and  exhibiting  that 
I  know  of."  In  1849  this  elegant  studio  was  destroyed  by  fire;  and 
almost  the  only  thing  of  value  saved  was  a  black-wood  easel  on  which 
Col.  Trumbull  painted,  which  Mr.  Jocelyn  still  preserves.  After  the  fire 
the  artist  moved  to  New  York.  He  had  long  been  an  honorary  member 
of  the  National  Academy,  and  now  they  elected  him  an  academician.  He 


Lucius  Munson. 


59 


returned  to  New  Haven,  however,  before  the  year  was  gone  in  which  he 
was  to  have  made  good  his  election ;  and,  as  it  appeared  his  intention  to 
remain  there,  the  society  over-jealously  rescinded  the  vote.  Mr.  Joce- 
lyn  was  also  elected  honorary  member  of  the  Philadelphia  Art  Union  ;  but, 
the  presentation  being  made  directly  after  an  action  on  the  part  of  the 
Union  which  had  aroused  the  artist's  strong  antislavery  sentiments,  he 
declined  it  without  limitation.  He  also  received  the  gold  palette  for  the 
best  portrait  exhibited  in  the  State  in  1844.  Col.  Trumbull  pronounced 
his  head  of  Judge  Lanman,  which  is  now  owned  by  Judge  L.  Foster,  an 
excellent  specimen  of  portraiture.  Several  of  the  artist's  best  portraits 
hang  in  the  Yale  Art  Gallery,  displaying  a  strength  of  touch,  grace  of 
modelling,  and  refined  taste,  justly  supporting  him  in  the  position  he 
has  attained.  As  a  teacher,  he  has  had  among  his  pupils  many  celebrated 
artists.  As  a  supporter  of  the  fine  arts,  he  is  as  genial,  unaffected,  and 
enthusiastic  to-day  as  ever  in  his  life. 


LUCIUS  MUNSON. 


To  a  very  short  career  in  art  Lucius  Munson  was  born  in  New  Haven, 
Dec.  15,  1796.  When  eighteen  he  had  no  thought  of  making  art  a  pro- 
fession, or  even  a  pastime.  He  was  an  easy,  off-hand  draughtsman,  but 
with  a  small  sum  of  money  accumulated  was  on  the  point  of  buying  a  farm 
on  which  to  spend  his  life,  when  Mr.  Jocelyn  persuaded  him  to  test  his 
artistic  ability.  The  passion  of  the  artist  seemed  suddenly  to  spring  upon 
him.  He  gave  up  every  thing  to  study  portrait-painting.  At  the  end  of  a 
year,  realizing  the  need  of  a  more  thorough  education,  he  went  to  New 
York,  and  studied  drawing  in  the  National  Academy  till  1818.  He  prac- 
tised his  art  for  a  year  in  New  Haven  ;  then  went  to  South  Carolina, 
where  orders  were  received  in  such  abundance,  that  his  health  gave  way 
in  filling  them.  He  returned  to  New  Haven  for  a  year,  when  he  was 
obliged  to  seek  a  warmer  climate.  He  went  to  Bermuda,  and  the  fol- 
lowing summer  to  Turk's  Island,  where  he  died  suddenly  on  the  27th  of 
July,  1823.  An  inordinate  ambition  to  accumulate  enough  to  study  art 
in  Europe  continually  drove  him  beyond  his  strength.  As  a  portrait- 
painter  he  not  only  gave  good  promise  for  the  future,  but  had  already 
accomplished  much.  His  pictures  show  good  taste  and  skill  in  drawing. 
He  was  a  careful  student,  and  his  work  was  free  and  bold.  The  public 
were  pleased  with  the  likenesses  he  obtained ;  but,  ignorant  of  the  method 
by  which  the  effects  were  produced,  popularly  called  him  "a  remarkable 
dauber,"  —  a  greater  compliment,  after  all,  than  they  supposed. 


6o 


Art  and  Artists  in  Connecticut. 


S.   S.  OSGOOD. 

Mr.  S.  S.  Osgood  is  said  to  have  been  born  in  New  Haven,  1798. 
These  facts  are  probably  correct,  but  are  given  on  the  strength  of  a 
single  statement  for  which  confirmation  or  contradiction  is  wanting. 
Hence  they  should  not  be  too  implicitly  relied  upon.  When  a  child,  he 
was  taken  to  Boston.  There,  after  the  usual  vicissitudes,  he  was  at  last 
given  up  to  art,  and  studied  for  five  years;  when,  in  1825,  he  returned  to 
Connecticut,  and  opened  a  studio  in  the  old  Eagle  Hotel,  on  Main  Street, 
Hartford.  He  remained  for  five  years,  and,  being  the  principal  portrait- 
painter  in  the  city  at  the  time,  received  large  orders  and  obtained  good 
prices,  though  his  work  was  crude  and  unsatisfactory  compared  with  that 
which  he  performed  later  in  life.  In  1830  he  married  Frances  Sargent 
Lock,  the  poetess.  They  sailed  at  once  for  Europe.  There  Mr.  Osgood 
entered  upon  a  course  of  study  which  resulted  in  making  him  one  of  the 
finest  portrait-painters  of  the  day.  In  England  he  painted  the  portraits 
of  Lord  Lyndhurst,  Mrs.  Norton,  and  others,  with  success  that  gave  him 
a  wide  reputation.  He  returned  to  his  studio  in  Hartford  in  1842,  and 
painted,  among  those  of  other  prominent  men,  an  admirable  portrait  of 
Gov.  Catlin.  He  painted  slowly  ;  but  his  pictures  have  both  ease  and 
strength.  The  late  James  B.  Hosmer  had  a  fine  painting  of  a  dog  which 
Mr.  Osgood  presented  him,  though  animal-painting  was  apparently  some- 
thing to  which  he  devoted  little  or  no  attention.  Shortly  after  returning 
to  Hartford,  he  was  greatly  aflPlicted  in  the  death  of  his  wife  and  two 
daughters.    He  was  urged  to  go  to  Europe  to  shake  off  the  melancholy. 

Nonsense!"  he  replied.  ''Can  a  man  leave  himself  here,  and  go 
abroad  } "  Subsequently,  however,  he  went  to  California,  where  he 
rapidly  gathered  a  large  fortune. 

ISAAC  SHEFFIELD. 

An  artist  named  Isaac  Sheffield  has  left  a  limited  number  of  portraits 
and  figure-pieces  about  New  London.  He  says,  in  a  letter  that  has  come 
to  light,  "I  came  here  from  my  home  in  Guilford  when  thirty-five."  This 
is  the  only  clew  that  has  been  discovered,  and,  together  with  the  fact  that 
his  earliest  pictures  are  dated  1833,  leads  to  the  impression  that  he  was 
born  in  Guilford,  1798.  The  portraits  are  all  red-faced,  and  most  of  them 
sea-captains,  with  one  single  telescope  in  the  hand  of  every  one,  while 
they  all  stand  before  a  red  curtain.  Otherwise  there  is  not  much  that  is 
noteworthy.    The  artist  died  in  1845. 


Benjamin  Hutchins  Coe. 


6i 


BENJAMIN  HUTCHINS  COE. 


The  drawing-teacher  of  wide  fame,  Benjamin  H.  Coe,  was  born  in 
Hartford,  Conn.,  Oct.  8,  1799.  His  pictures  are  quiet,  pleasant  views; 
but  his  merit  lay  in  his  teaching.  F.  E.  Church  and  E.  S.  Bartholomew, 
beside  many  others,  came  to  him  for  their  first  information.  He  lived  as 
a  farmer,  till,  as  he  said  of  himself,  he  was  too  old  to  learn  more  than  the 
rudiments.  Always  having  possessed  a  great  fondness  for  art,  he  mastered 
these  rudiments  with  wonderful  activity  and  success.  He  possessed  a  re- 
markable faculty  for  imparting  truths  in  a  way  to  fasten  them  in  memory  ; 
and  a  long  life  of  teaching  both  private  students  and  large  classes  in  nearly 


all  of  the  important  cities  of  New  England,  New  York,  and  New  Jersey, 
sustains  this  reputation.  He  had  a  very  large  private  school  in  the 
University  Building,  in  New-York  City;  moving  from  there  in  1854  to 
his  present  home  in  New  Haven.  He  opened  his  last  school  there, 
which  he  carried  on  successfully  for  ten  years ;  then  gave  it  up  to  one 
of  his  pupils,  and  entered  into  the  temperance-work,  writing  and  distrib- 
uting tracts,  and  working  in  ale-houses,  with  the  vigor  of  a  young 
convert.  Within  a  year,  failing  health  has  somewhat  interrupted  this 
work. 


BENJAMIN  HUTCHINS  COE. 


62 


Art  and  Artists  in  Connecticut, 


FRANCIS  ALEXANDER. 

Mr.  Dunlap  gives  a  very  complete  history  of  the  early  life  of  Francis 
Alexander.  He  was  born  in  Killingly,  Windham  County,  Conn.,  in  Feb- 
ruary, 1800.  His  father  was  a  poor  farmer.  His  first  inspiration  toward 
art  was  a  desire  to  copy  some  fish  he  had  caught,  which  he  did  in  water- 
color.  His  early  life  was  inartistic.  He  wrote  to  Mr.  Dunlap,  I  used  to 
go  three  miles  before  sunrise,  and  reap  all  day  for  a  bushel  of  rye."  A 
lad  who  from  these  circumstances  could  enter  the  field  of  art  at  all  must 
be  acknowledged  to  possess  certain  very  desirable  qualities.  His  first 
trip  to  New  York,  for  the  purpose  of  studying  art,  he  made  in  September 
as  deck-passenger  on  a  steamboat  from  Norwich.  Mrs.  Gen.  James  B. 
Mason  of  Providence  saw  two  of  his  paintings,  and  fortunately  resolved 
to  bring  the  young  artist  out.  He  remained  two  years  in  Providence,  pro- 
gressing rapidly  ;  then  went  to  Boston,  where  he  was  welcomed  by  Gilbert 
Stuart,  and  well  recommended  by  Col.  Trumbull.  Francis  Alexander  was 
contemporary  with  Chester  Harding.  A  fine  portrait  of  the  artist,  painted 
by  George  W.  Flagg  in  1838,  is  now  owned  in  Boston.  Being  a  man  of 
fine  personal  appearance  and  refined  address,  he  married  a  Boston  lady  of 
exceptional  beauty  and  wealth,  and  at  once  started  upon  an  extended  trip 
through  Europe  (1831-32),  returning  with  a  style  materially  changed,  with 
more  of  the  world  in  it,  and  less  of  true  art.  His  popularity  became 
greater;  but  sober  judgment  pronounced  his  work  deteriorated.  His  first 
work  was  characterized  by  warm  tints  and  careful  touches  ;  too  careful,  he 
thought  afterward.  They  were  sunny  pictures,  possessed  of  the  pleasant 
grace  of  their  author.  In  his  second  style  his  colors  were  leaden  and  cold, 
his  work  much  more  rapid  and  bolder.  His  early  life  gave  a  value  to 
money,  which  produced  a  tendency  to  make  a  shrewd  business-man  of  him  ; 
a  quality  better  for  one's  purse  than  his  pictures,  perhaps.  For  his  skill 
at  driving  a  bargain  to  his  own  advantage,  Mr.  Alexander  won  the  title  of 
**Art  Jockey"  among  his  friends.  For  instance,  Charles  Dickens  was 
approaching  America  upon  his  first  visit.  The  whole  nation  was  on  the 
qui  vivc.  It  was  an  event  that  was  then  looked  forward  to  with  as  much 
expectancy  as  to-day  would  greet  the  Queen.  The  famous  visitor  was  to 
land  in  Boston.  Facilities  were  not  so  perfect  then  as  now.  It  was  im- 
possible to  say  just  when  the  steamer  would  arrive;  but,  after  insinuating 
himself  into  the  good  graces  of  that  precarious  pilot  corps,  Mr.  Alexander 
kept  himself  so  systematically  on  the  alert,  that  he  successfully  boarded 
the  steamer  close  behind  the  pilot,  who,  being  an  Irishman,  left  him  the 
first  American  to  greet  the  great  arrival.  He  had  nardly  been  intro- 
duced when  he  put  the  leading  question,  Would  Mr.  Dickens  sit  for  his 


Thomas  Cole. 


63 


portrait  ?  All  he  had  expected  was,  at  most,  the  refusal  of  the  great  man 
till  the  matter  had  been  taken  into  consideration.  To  his  surprise  he 
received  immediate  consent,  and  the  whole  matter  was  at  once  arranged. 
Mr.  Dickens,  explaining  the  circumstance  to  friends  afterward,  said,  "  The 
impertinence  of  the  thing  was  without  limit ;  but  the  enterprise  was  most 
astonishing,  and  deserved  any  kind  of  a  reward  demanded."  Of  course 
the  Alexander  studio  was  the  centre  of  popularity  till  the  sittings  and  the 
picture  were  completed. 

After  his  return  from  Europe  he  discovered  that  his  tastes  had  been 
entirely  changed.  The  atmosphere  of  New  England  was  not  more  con- 
genial than  the  farm  had  been  in  his  boyhood.  Florence  offered  much 
that  could  not  be  found  in  America ;  and,  an  acknowledged  captive,  he 
returned,  where  he  now  lives  in  peace  and  prosperity.  At  present  it  is 
his  intention  to  take  up  a  final  residence  in  America  during  the  fall  of 
1878. 

THOMAS  COLE. 

It  is  an  honor  in  art  not  to  be  over-valued,  that,  in  the  course  of  his 
eventful  career,  Thomas  Cole  became  for  a  time  a  resident  artist  of  Hart- 
ford. The  Rev.  L.  L.  Noble  has  given  the  world  a  volume  concerning  him 
that  could  not  well  be  duplicated.  A  reference  to  it  will  be  of  much  more 
value  than  any  attempt  to  reduce  its  facts  to  a  short  article.  He  was  born 
in  Bolton-le-Moor,  England,  Feb.  i,  1801.  His  father  failed  in  an  exten- 
sive business.  The  boy,  thrown  from  luxury  to  poverty,  was  obliged  to 
enter  into  some  employment.  A  clerkship  in  a  law-office  or  in  a  manu- 
facturer's counting-room  was  offered.  The  spirit  that  made  the  powerful 
devotee  of  art  in  later  years  persuaded  him,  against  his  own  will  even,  to 
give  them  both  up  for  a  humble  occupation,  that  in  a  very  limited  sense 
was  creative.  Later,  when  seventeen,  he  went  to  Liverpool  to  learn  the 
trade  of  the  wood-engraver.  He  was  an  inveterate  reader,  and  had 
become  so  enthusiastic  in  a  desire  to  see  America,  that  he  imparted  his 
eagerness  to  his  father,  who,  after  failing  in  several  efforts  to  re-establish 
himself,  left  for  this  country  with  all  his  family.  Ill-luck  did  not  desert 
him,  however  ;  and  the  boy  was  inured  to  the  most  tedious  and  unremitting 
labor,  while  the  family  moved  from  place  to  place  in  search  of  sufficient 
work  to  earn  their  bread. 

Mr.  Noble  pays  most  complimentary  attention  to  the  boy's  poetical 
ability,  that  strangely  enough  was  inspired  under  such  circumstances.  A 
travelling  portrait-painter  gave  him  a  book  upon  the  first  rules  of  art.  It 
was  a  seed  in  good  ground ;  and  though  he  was  obliged  to  make  his  own 
brushes,  and  borrow  paint  from  a  chair-maker,  using  a  pine  board  for  a 


64 


Art  and  Artists  in  Connecticut. 


palette,  he  was  soon  at  work  painting  experimental  portraits.  A  farmer 
of  the  village,  who,  inconsistently,  had  once  been  a  pupil  of  Stuart's,  was 
so  much  pleased  with  these  endeavors,  that  he  gave  him  a  palette,  colors, 
and  brushes  ;  and  with  this  equipment,  one  dollar  in  his  pocket,  and  a 
small  change  of  clothing  in  a  green  sack  over  his  shoulder,  he  started 
upon  his  first  trip  as  an  itinerant  painter.  His  first  order  brought  him  a 
new  saddle ;  his  next,  an  old  silver  watch  ;  then  a  chain  and  a  watch-key 
(given  for  gold,  which  proved  to  be  copper)  ;  another,  a  pair  of  shoes  and  a 
dollar.  All  these  perquisites  were  ingulfed  by  the  landlord's  bill ;  and,  as 
poor  as  ever,  he  started  on.  In  the  next  place  he  just  escaped  arrest  for 
a  board-bill  of  thirty  dollars  through  the  kindness  of  four  young  men  who 
stood  bondsmen  for  him.  Thus  ill-luck  followed  him  till  he  turned  back  in 
despair,  and  in  one  day  walked  sixty  miles  on  his  homeward  journey.  It 
was  his  last  trial  of  the  life  of  an  itinerant.  Struggle  after  struggle 
amounted  to  as  little  for  him  as  for  his  father.  Both  seemed  fated.  His 
father,  mercilessly  driven  to  the  very  practical  side  of  life,  naturally  op- 
posed the  boy's  choice  of  art.  His  mother's  sympathy  had  alone  sustained 
him  ;  and  the  time  came  at  last  when  it  was  necessary  to  make  a  final 
determination,  either  to  follow  art  to  the  end,  or  give  it  up  forever.  The 
young  artist  was  walking  in  the  field,  after  an  excited  talk  with  his 
father.  He  was  tossing  two  pebbles  in  his  hand.  Suddenly  he  said  to 
himself,  I  will  set  one  of  these  on  a  stick,  and  throw  the  other.  If  I 
knock  it  off  the  first  time,  I  will  go  on  in  art  ;  if  I  fail,  I  will  give  it  up." 
A  very  great  fate  hung  in  a  very  small  balance  ;  but,  guided  by  destiny,  one 
pebble  struck  the  other.  He  started  in  November  for  Philadelphia,  tak- 
ing with  him  his  painting-materials,  a  very  small  supply  of  clothing,  six- 
teen dollars  in  money,  a  mother's  blessing,  and  a  table-cover  which  she 
threw  over  his  shoulders  that  lacked  an  overcoat.  A  most  touching  appeal 
to  the  sympathetic  heart  is  the  account  which  Mr.  Noble  gives  of  his  early 
struggles  in  Philadelphia,  where  he  passed  his  first  winter  in  a  musty 
upper  room,  living  for  the  most  part  upon  bread  and  water,  warmed  only 
by  a  broken  cooking-stove,  into  the  oven  of  which  he  was  often  obliged  to 
thrust  his  legs  to  allay  suffering,  with  the  table-cover  for  his  only  blanket. 
One  of  the  strangest  facts  connected  with  his  life  is  that  a  series  of  comi- 
cal paintings,  the  only  specimens  of  the  sort  which  he  ever  executed, 
emanated  from  this  garret.  In  1825  he  moved  to  New  York,  v/here  be- 
gan almost  mstantaneously  the  fame  that  has  made  his  name  so  great. 
He  was,  in  the  truest  sense,  a  student  of  Nature.  Every  change  in  her 
swift  vicissitudes,  morning,  noon,  and  night,  were  all  familiarly  known  to 
him.  While  in  London  in  1829,  he  spent  a  fortnight  with  some  relatives 
living  a  short  distance  from  the  city,  in  which  place  a  revival  was  in  prog- 


Mosely  Isaac  Dantforth, 


65 


ress.  It  was  there  that  Mr.  Cole's  nature,  always  serious  and  upright, 
received  the  strong  impress  of  religion  which  marked  his  life  afterward. 
The  exact  time  of  Mr.  Cole's  life  in  Hartford  it  has  been  difficult  to  learn ; 
probably  in  1832-3.  He  came,  in  a  sense,  as  protege  of  Daniel  Wads- 
worth,  who  was  his  firm  friend  through  life.  His  studio  was  in  the  old 
WaJsworth  mansion.  He  was  very  little  known  in  the  city,  being  of  an 
exceedingly  retiring  disposition,  and  reluctant  to  be  made  the  object  of  any 
notoriety  whatever.  Indeed,  he  is  better  known  through  the  State  to-day 
as  the  instructor  of  F.  E.  Church  than  even  through  his  paintings.  Sev- 
eral of  his  works  are  hung  in  the  Athenaeum  Gallery,  —  Mount  yEtna," 
''A  View  in  the  White  Mountains,"  ''John  the  Baptist  in  the  Wilder- 
ness," "A  Cascade  in  the  Catskills,"  ''A  View  on  Winnipiseogee  Lake," 
and  *'  Montevideo  on  Talcott  Mountain."  These  pictures  are  so  easy  of 
access  to  the  people  of  Connecticut,  that  no  comment  is  necessary.  The 
painting  of  Talcott  Mountain  has  since  been  engraved.  During  his  lacer 
years  he  painted  with  great  rapidity,  as  the  result  of  his  lifelong  study. 
He  was  the  first  thorough  student  of  the  Adirondacks,  and  a  firm  admirer 
of  the  beauties  of  the  Catskills  about  his  home,  where  he  lived  for  many 
years,  and  where  he  died  Feb.  11,  1848. 


MOSELY  ISAAC  DANTFORTH. 


An  artist  of  merit  earned  by  honest  perseverance,  M.  I.  Dantforth,  was 
born  in  Hartford  in  1801.  When  sixteen  he  began  engraving  under  the 
direction  of  Asaph  Willard  in  the  Hartford  Graphic  Company.  In  three 
years  he  moved  to  New  Haven,  where  he  worked  independently,  and  soon 
earned  the  reputation  of  being  one  of  the  best  engravers  of  the  country. 
Later  he  was  among  the  principal  movers  in  founding  the  American  Bank- 
Note  Company.  In  London,  where  he  engraved  Leslie's  ''  Uncle  Toby 
and  the  Widow,"  his  work  was  pronounced  the  very  highest  of  engrav- 
ing." This,  however,  is  digressing.  In  1825  he  entered  the  National  Acad- 
emy at  New  York  as  a  student,  and,  a  year  later,  was  elected  an  associate. 
In  1827  he  went  abroad,  and  undertook  a  course  of  art-study  in  the  Royal 
Academy.  In  painting  he  pursued  chiefly  the  branch  of  water-color,  and 
early  in  his  career  made  some  copies  of  Titian  and  Paul  Veronese  that 
were  very  highly  praised  by  the  English  press.  In  1837  Mr.  Dantforth 
returned  to  Connecticut,  when  much  of  his  time  was  devoted  to  original 
water-color  sketches  that  were  very  popular,  and  brought  high  prices.  In 
1858  he  removed  to  New  York,  where  he  died  four  years  later.  Mr.  Dant- 
forth is  spoken  of,  both  in  histories  and  by  those  who  remember  him  well, 
as  a  man  whose  good  qualities  cannot  be  too  highly  estimated,  an  honor 
to  art  and  society. 


66 


Art  and  Artists  in  Connecticut, 


LOUJS  FAIRCHILD. 

The  engraver  Fairchild  was  born  in  Farmington,  Conn.,  in  the  first 
year  of  the  present  century.  He  was  also  an  artist  of  talent,  though  he 
left  it  unimproved.  While  studying  engraving  under  Asaph  Willard,  he 
painted  miniature  portraits  for  the  increase  of  his  income.  They  were  in 
exquisite  color  and  delineation.  One  of  Mrs.  Lynch  Botta  would  indicate 
that  he  made  a  great  mistake  in  clinging  to  engraving.  He  was  sensitive 
and  over-critical  about  his  work,  but  withal  a  true  art-lover  of  the  beauti- 
ful. At  cost  of  many  sacrifices,  he  purchased  in  Italy,  and  had  brought  to 
this  country,  a  large  cast  of  the  Venus  de'  Medici.  He  kept  it  always 
closely  veiled,  and,  when  compelled  to  leave  it  at  last,  sooner  than  consign 
it  to  the  hands  of  others,  broke  it  in  pieces  with  a  hammer. 

SAMUEL  HOLT. 

A  portrait-painter,  Samuel  Holt,  giving  promise  in  his  youth,  was  born  in 
Meriden  in  1801.  He  was  unable  to  obtain  instruction  till  he  was  thirty. 
Thereafter  he  painted  miniature  portraits  very  acceptably  for  four  years, 
when  failing  eyesight  drove  him  to  the  coarser  work  of  car-decorating. 
He  now  resides  in  Hartford,  and  is  the  father  of  two  sons,  who,  gathering 
his  talent,  have  paid  some  attention  to  art ;  not,  however,  making  it  a  pro- 
fessional life  labor. 

THOMAS  H.  PARKER. 

A  miniature-portrait  painter,  T.  H.  Parker,  popular  in  Hartford  in 
1829  and  thereabout,  was  born  in  Sag  Harbor,  L.I.,  in  1801.  He  studied 
under  Matthew  Rogers  of  New  York,  and  settled  at  once  in  Hartford.  He 
painted  rapidly,  and,  being  almost  the  only  miniature-portrait  painter  in 
the  State  at  the  time,  received  very  large  patronage  at  good  prices.  One 
of  his  eccentricities  was  a  pleasing  habit  of  carrying  a  huge  roll  of  bank- 
bills  in  his  coat-pocket.  Among  his  pupils  in  Hartford  was  C.  W.  El- 
dridge,  still  a  resident  of  that  city,  who  for  many  years  was  his  partner, 
painting  with  him  after  the  fashion  of  Waldo  and  Jewett.  He  was  re- 
markably mild  in  temper.  A  youth  in  Hartford  lost  a  ten-dollar  wager 
that  he  could  make  him  angry.  His  work  all  partook  of  this  gentleness 
of  spirit. 

MILO  HOTCHKISS, 

A  man  of  more  ability  than  reputation,  was  born  in  Kensington,  Conn., 
Oct.  10,  1802.    He  was  a  farmer's  son,  meeting  with  no  advantages  till 


Thomas  S.  Cummings. 


67 


about  thirty,  when  he  came  to  Hartford,  and  took  a  few  lessons  of  Mr. 
Hewins.  He  was  gaining  considerable  popularity  in  his  work,  when  it 
became  necessary  for  him  to  take  his  father's  place  upon  the  farm. 
Thereafter  he  did  but  little  in  art,  and  died  Oct.  12,  1874. 

THOMAS  S.  CUMMINGS. 

By  adoption  at  least,  Gen.  Thomas  S.  Cummings,  born  in  1804,  may  be 
claimed  in  the  history  of  the  State,  having  for  many  years  resided  in  a 
beautiful  home  in  Mansfield  Centre.  Mr.  Dunlap  devotes  most  honorable 
mention  to  him ;  and  Professor  Mapes  shortly  before  his  death  wrote  an 
exceedingly  interesting  biography,  which,  unfortunately,  has  not  yet  been 
published.  Hence  the  liberty  is  taken  to  make  several  quotations  from 
Professor  Mapes's  manuscript.  Another  claim  which  Connecticut  may 
have  upon  Mr.  Cummings  is,  that  Augustus  Earl,  son  of  Ralph  Earl,  v/as 
the  first  to  detect  his  ability,  and  to  persuade  his  father  to  take  him  out  of 
the  counting-room  where  he  had  placed  him,  and  send  him  instead  to  John 
R.  Smith's  drawing-school.  During  this  instruction  in  drawing,  the  stu- 
dent developed  such  a  talent  that  he  was  accepted  as  pupil  by  Henry  In- 
man,  then  in  the  height  of  his  popularity.  He  studied  oil  and  water-color 
for  three  years  with  Mr.  Inman  ;  at  the  end  of  which  time  the  artist  paid 
him  the  extreme  compliment  of  taking  him  into  partnership  as  Inman  & 
Cummings,  eventually  giving  up  to  him  the  branch  of  miniature-portrait 
painting.  Mr.  Dunlap  said  of  him,  He  is  the  best-instructed  painter  of 
water-color  portraits  in  the  country."  Mr.  Cummings  was  one  of  the 
founders,  and  is  one  of  three  survivors  among  the  founders,  of  the  Nation- 
al Academy  of  Design,  where  for  forty  years  he  held  the  most  responsible 
offices  in  the  power  of  the  institution  to  bestow. 

Professor  Mapes  says,  "  Notwithstanding  Mr.  Cummings's  proficiency 
in  water-color,  his  friends  all  regretted  the  relinquishment,  even  in  part,  of 
oil-painting,  as  his  proverbial  accuracy  and  acquirements  in  the  academic 
rules  of  art  promised  to  place  him  at  the  head  of  any  branch  he  might 
have  chosen  for  his  future  practice."  Professor  Mapes  vindicates  the 
judgment  of  others  in  the  statement,  that,  since  the  time  of  the  lamented 
Malbone,  Cummings  has  been  without  a  rival ;  and  many  of  his  works  have 
furnished  subjects  to  our  best  engravers,  and  ornamented  the  choicest 
annuals."  ''The  Bride,"  "The  Mother's  Pearls,"  "The  Exchange  of 
Queens,"  "The  Mysterious  Lady,"  —  engraved  for  the  first  number  of 
"The  Talisman,"  —  are  among  the  finest  of  these  works.  "The  Brace- 
let," and  "Ariadne,"  now  in  possession  of  Richard  B.  Hartshorne  of  New 
York,  are  also  exquisite  miniatures. 


68 


Art  and  Artists  in  Connecticut. 


Of  Mr.  Cummings's  connection  with  the  National  Academy  of  Design 
Professor  Mapes  says,  "  He  was  one  of  the  most  alive  of  its  founders ;  its 
first  treasurer ;  and,  after  thirty  years  of  office,  the  Academy  voted  him  a 
handsome  service  of  plate."  In  1831  he  was  elected  by  the  Academy  to 
a  professorship,  and  proved  a  most  valuable  instructor.  With  a  faculty 
unexcelled  in  matters  of  art,  he  combines  an  urbanity  and  generosity  of 


"the  bracelet."  —  FROM  THE  PAINTING  BY  GEN.  CUMMINGS. 


deportment  that  render  him  a  man  invaluable  to  the  art  of  the  nation. 
This  value  Mr.  Cummings  has  amply  demonstrated  as  an  active  supporter 
of  all  of  our  philanthropic,  learned,  and  social  societies.  The  Lyceum  of 
Natural  History,  the  New-York  Gallery  of  Fine  Arts,  the  American  and 
Mechanics'  Institutes,  the  Century  Club  (of  which  he  was  one  of  the 
founders  and  first  treasurer),  and  the  Old  Sketch  Club,  all  owe  much  to 
his  energy.    He  is  also  honorary  member  of  many  American  and  foreign 


Thomas  S,  Cummings. 


69 


academies  of  art.  The  University  of  New-York  City  also  elected  Mr. 
Cummings  Professor  of  the  Arts  of  Design,  to  fill  the  chair  left  vacant  by 
the  retirement  of  Professor  Morse.  At  the  same  time  Professor  Cum- 
mings established  his  own  and  most  eminently  successful  School  of 
Design. 

Mr.  Cummings  has  also  been  an  active  man  beyond  the  limits  of  the 
fine  arts.  He  served  in  the  uniform  corps  in  every  grade  of  the  military 
service,  and  commanded  the  Second  Regiment  of  Light  Infantry,  Washing- 
ton Guards,  for  twelve  years.  Since  his  appointment  to  the  rank  of  gen- 
eral, he  has  earned  much  power  and  obtained  a  high  reputation  as  a 
military  jurist,  by  virtue  of  his  office  receiving  appeals,  and  confirming 
or  reversing  the  decisions  of  courts-martial.  It  is  noteworthy  that  these 
decisions  have  always  been  sustained  when  again  appealed  to  a  higher 
power.  When  but  eighteen  years  old,  Mr.  Cummings  married  Miss  Jane 
Cook;  in  which  marriage  (Gen.  Cummings  authorizes  the  statement)  the 
population  of  the  State  was  augmented  by  fourteen  most  excellent  children. 

An  exceedingly  interesting  record  of  Mr.  Cummings's  services  during 
his  long  connection  with  the  National  Academy  is  contained  in  his  pub- 
lished work,  Annals  of  the  National  Academy  of  Design,"  which,  with 
Mr.  Dunlap's  book,  forms  the  only  authentic  history  we  have  of  the  early 
days  of  art  in  America.  Both  books  are  scarce,  having  been  published, 
unfortunately,  by  subscription.  There  are  but  a  very  few  copies  on  sale  ; 
and,  at  the  auction  of  Mr.  Menzie's  library  a  short  time  ago,  a  set  of  each, 
enriched  with  portraits,  brought  fifty-five  dollars  a  volume. 

A  pleasant  episode  in  the  artist's  life,  given  by  permission,  was  the 
presentation  by  him  to  Queen  Victoria  of  a  copy  of  Mrs.  Washington's 
portrait,  and  the  reception  of  the  following  reply  :  — 

Sir,  —  I  have  received  and  laid  before  the  Queen  your  letter  of  the  9th  of  June, 
enclosing  a  portrait  of  Mrs.  Washington,  the  wife  of  Gen.  Washington,  which  you  have 
painted  from  the  original  portrait  by  Gilbert  Stuart,  and  which  you  have  offered  for  the 
acceptance  of  her  Majesty.  The  Queen  commands  me  to  acquaint  you  that  she  has 
very  much  admired  the  portrait,  which,  as  a  work  of  art,  is  of  very  high  order,  and  will 
form  a  valuable  addition  to  her  Majesty's  collection  of  historical  portraits ;  together  with 
the  assurance  of  her  Majesty's  gratification  at  this  proof  of  that  kindly  feeling  toward 
her  Majesty  which  has  been  so  often  expressed  by  citizens  of  the  United  States  of 
America.  I  am  also  to  transmit  to  you  the  accompanying  gold  medal,  bearing  the  por- 
trait of  the  Queen,  which  her  Majesty  requests  you  to  accept  as  a  mark  of  her  regard. 
I  am,  sir,  your  most  obedient  servant, 

Palmerston. 

To  Thomas  S.  Cummings,  Esq.,  New  York. 

During  the  erection  of  the  present  magnificent  building  of  the  National 
Academy  of  Design,  for  the  sixth  time  he  acted  upon  a  building  committee 


70 


Art  and  Artists  in  Connecticut. 


for  that  society,  including  in  the  course  of  such  offices  many  important 
trusts.  In  one  single  dealing  he  made  for  the  National  Academy  the  sum 
of  sixty-one  thousand  dollars,  which  formed  the  nucleus  for  its  present 
wealth  and  luxurious  independence.  It  should  justly  be  added,  however, 
that  to  the  form  of  the  present  Academy  Building  Gen.  Cummings  was 
opposed,  thinking  it  much  wiser  to  have  the  lower  story  of  stores  that 
should  render  an  income  toward  the  support  of  the  galleries,  but  was  over- 
ruled by  the  rest.  When  the  building  was  finished,  having  completed  his 
fortieth  year  of  service,  he  resigned  his  treasurership,  and  retired  to  his 
present  lovely  home  in  Mansfield  Centre,  to  rest  in  the  valley  of  the  Fen- 
ton  under  his  own  vine  and  maple,  —  a  rare  selection,  a  fortunate  choice 
for  the  calm  and  quiet  of  the  great  artist  reformer,  and  more  fortunate  for 
the  people  of  Connecticut  with  whom  he  lives. 


GEN.  CUMWINGS'S  HOUSE,  CONNECTICUT. 


Like  all  his  other  works  of  art,  Gen.  Cummings's  house  in  Mansfield 
Centre  is  a  gem.  It  stands  on  the  site  of  the  old  block-house  fort  erected 
for  defence  against  the  Indians,  and  some  of  the  original  white-oak  beams 
are  used  in  the  present  structure. 

The  soldier-artist  has  lived  a  most  valuable  life,  the  more  so  in  that  he 
has  lived  it  in  advance  of  his  associates,  and,  by  earnestness,  nobility,  and 
generosity,  urged  them  to  higher  walks.  May  he  yet  live  to  see  the  full 
results  of  his  life's  labor,  when  the  standard  he  has  urged  shall  have  been 
gained,  when  Athena  shall  sit  upon  the  throne  with  the  Goddess  of  Liberty, 
and  hand  in  hand,  as  one  royal  sovereign.  Freedom  and  Beauty,  inseparable 
forevermore,  shall  lead  the  world  onward  and  upward  ! 


James  Hamilton  Shegogue.  —  Philip  Hewins, 


71 


JAMES  HAMILTON  SHEGOGUE. 

April  7,  1872,  there  died  in  Warrenville,  Conn.,  where  he  had  resided 
for  ten  years,  the  well-known  and  talented  artist  James  H.  Shegogue.  His 
profession  was  portraiture,  though  many  ideal  and  some  historical  pieces 
were  produced  on  his  easel.  He  was  French  by  descent,  born  in  Charles- 
ton, S.C.,  Feb.  22,  1806.  He  began  his  professional  work  in  New  York, 
1836;  and  remained  there,  except  during  several  trips  to  Europe,  till  his 
removal  to  Warrenville  in  1862.  The  work  which  first  brought  him  into 
notice  was  ''An  Old  Straw  Hat,"  with  a  boy  under  it,  across  whose  face 
the  sun  shone  in  patches  corresponding  with  rents  in  the  hat.  It  was  ex- 
hibited in  the  American  Academy  of  Art,  and  praised  by  its  president,  Col. 
Trumbull.  While  copying  Guido's  "Aurora"  in  the  Borghese  Palace  at 
Rome  for  Mr.  Penniman  of  New  York,  the  Princess  Borghese  pronounced 
his  work  the  best  copy  she  had  ever  seen.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Old 
Sketch  Club  and  of  the  Century  Club,  and  in  1843  was  elected  an  acade- 
mician in  the  National  Academy,  of  which  in  1849  he  became  correspond- 
ing secretary.  His  income  from  his  work  was  large  ;  but,  tiring  of  the  noise 
of  New  York,  he  came  for  quiet  to  the  banks  of  the  Mount-Hope  River, 
where  he  pursued  his  work  with  unremitted  enthusiasm  until  within  a  few 
weeks  of  his  death.  Some  of  his  last  works  are  in  possession  of  S.  R. 
Arnold,  Esq.,  of  Willimantic.  Portraits  of  two  of  Gen.  Cummings's  daugh- 
ters are  among  his  best  work ;  also  an  excellent  group,  the  children  of 
Secretary  Fish.  ''The  Chinaman  from  Birth  to  Grave,"  and  "The  Hea- 
then Chinee,"  two  series  in  possession  of  Mr.  Gillman  of  New  York,  are 
powerful  and  poetic  in  treatment  and  aesthetic  effect.  He  was  a  man  of 
unusual  education,  a  proficient  linguist,  and  scientific  explorer.  A  large 
picture,  "  Christ  Betrayed,"  is  owned  by  the  Baptist  Society  of  Warrenville, 
and  hangs  in  the  church.  Another  large  picture  executed  at  Warrenville, 
"  Landing  of  Chinese  Women,"  is  owned  in  Willimantic  by  Mr.  Royce. 
As  a  man  and  artist  Mr.  Shegogue  exerted  an  influence,  doing  honor  to 
both,  which  cannot  soon  be  forgotten. 

PHILIP  HEWINS. 

The  portrait-painter  Hewins,  who  figured  conspicuously  in  the  art  of 
Connecticut  from  1834  to  1850,  was  born  at  Blue  Hill,  Me.,  in  July,  1806. 
When  two  years  of  age  he  was  taken  by  his  parents  to  Sharon,  Mass., 
about  eighteen  miles  from  Boston.  He  displayed  the  early  propensities 
of  the  artist,  but  in  youth  entered  into  the  dry-goods  business  in  Bos- 
ton and  elsewhere,  in  which  he  made  a  remarkably  successful  beginning. 


Henry  C,  Shumway, 


73 


in  St.  Louis,  and  painted  "A  Wounded  Grecian  Racer,"  which  created 
much  excitement.  It  was  remarked  by  artists  as  a  wild  conception,  good 
in  color,  fine  drawing,  and  altogether  praiseworthy."  The  artist  next 
appeared  in  Connecticut,  a  weather-beaten  wanderer,  followed  by  an  old 
dog,  which,  he  said,  was  his  only  friend  on  earth.  He  stopped  at  a  farm- 
house near  Hartford,  and  offered  to  paint  the  family  in  exchange  for  food 
and  old  clothes.  The  pictures,  though  painted  under  such  fearful  circum- 
stances, show  withal  a  lingering  shadow  of  the  hand  that  wrought  the 
Grecian  Racer."  The  strange  artist  died  in  an  almshouse  in  Pittsburgh 
in  1874. 

HENRY  C.  SHUMWAY. 

On  the  4th  of  July,  1807,  Henry  C.  Shumway,  the  soldier-artist,  was 
born  in  Middletown,  Conn.  His  patriotic  birthday  indexed  the  military 
career  in  which  he  has  gained  renown  ;  his  school-days,  the  artist.  On 
a  long,  high  board  fence  skirting  the  road  opposite  the  school,  the  boy,  des- 
tined to  be  one  of  the  foremost  miniature-portrait  painters  of  America,  was 
wont  to  relieve  the  pressure  of  destiny,  and  amuse  his  schoolfellows,  with 
life-size  caricatures  of  friends  and  foes,  often  bearing  excellent  likenesses. 
When  his  school-days  were  over,  his  father  took  him  into  his  office.  This 
course  did  not  satisfy  either  the  fancy  or  ambition  ;  and  so  much  of  his 
time  was  expended  upon  pencil-sketches  (as  so  much  of  his  time  in  school 
had  been  devoted  to  chalk-drawings),  that  his  father  found  a  difficult  task 
before  him ;  and  the  boy  waited  only  for  the  freedom  of  one  and  twenty 
years  to  place  himself  as  a  student  in  the  National  Academy  at  New  York. 
For  two  years  he  attended  the  antique  and  life  schools  ;  then  established 
himself  as  an  artist,  strictly  a  painter  of  miniature  portraits  on  ivory. 
He  has  worked  only  in  oil  as  a  temporary  relaxation  or  experimentally, 
and  has  remained  in  New  York  with  but  transient  exceptions.  At  one 
time  he  painted  for  several  months  in  Washington  upon  the  heads  of 
celebrated  national  officers,  many  times  for  the  summer  in  Middletown, 
and  occasionally  in  Hartford.  During  his  visits  in  the  latter  city  his 
headquarters  were  with  Daniel  Wadsworth,  and  his  studio  at  one  time 
in  the  daguerrotype-gallery  of  J.  W.  Stancliff. 

Mr.  Shumway  began  painting  in  1829  for  ten  dollars  a  miniature 
portrait.  His  popular  success  cannot  be  better  estimated  than  in  the  fact, 
that,  in  the  prosperous  days  of  miniature-painting  in  America,  he  reached 
a  dignity  of  reputation  that  gave  him  three  hundred  dollars  for  a  por- 
trait upon  five-inch  ivory.  His  principal  work  in  Washington  was  a  fine 
portrait  of  Henry  Clay.  In  Hartford  he  painted  Judge  Storrs,  Gov. 
Trumbull's  family,  Col.  Wadsworth,  and  others.  In  1832  he  was  made 
an  academician. 


74 


Art  and  Artists  in  Connecticut. 


About  i860  photographs  had  taken  such  a  popular  position  in  the 
country,  that  he  was  obUged  to  look  beyond  his  orders  for  miniature  por- 
traits on  ivory  for  constant  occupation.  The  same  material,  and  much 
the  same  process,  which  is  used  in  miniatures,  is  introduced  in  coloring 
photographs  ;  and  this  branch  of  the  art  Mr.  Shumway  undertook  for  the 
sake  of  the  occupation.  This  labor  he  still  pursues  in  the  studio  he  has 
occupied  for  many  years  on  Broadway.  He  is  a  man  of  decided  culture 
and  intelligence,  of  invariable  politeness,  and  an  untiring  energy  within 
and  without  the  confines  of  art.  He  was  prominent  in  forming  and  sus- 
taining the  Seventh  New-York  Regiment,  which  he  afterwards  command- 
ed with  distinction.  For  thirty-five  years  he  has  belonged  to  the  New- 
York  State  militia ;  and,  after  serving  as  captain  for  twenty-eight  years, 
is  now  honorably  brevetted. 

Both  in  his  military  and  civil  character,  Mr.  Shumway  has  been  the 
recipient  of  many  laudations.  An  eminent  artist,  a  respected  critic,  and 
a  soldier  of  high  rank,  who  has  long  and  intimately  known  Mr.  Shumway, 
writes  of  him  :  He  is  a  man  in  every  way  worthy  of  the  highest  commen- 
dation. I  never  heard  an  ill  word  of  him  from  any  one.  A  quiet,  retir- 
ing, and  upright  man,  —  perhaps  too  retiring  to  be  as  well  known  as  he 
should  be  ;  yet  he  is  very  well  known,  and  everywhere  highly  thought  of." 

In  1844  the  artist  received  the  gold  palette  for  the  best  miniature 
portrait  in  the  art-exhibition  of  the  State  Fair.  In  1838  he  painted  a  large 
miniature  head  of  Napoleon  III.  from  life,  which  is  now  in  possession 
of  the  family  of  the  late  Rev.  Mr.  Stewart,  for  a  long  time  of  the 
United-States  navy. 

JOSEPH  IVES  PEASE. 

One  of  the  remarkable  men  of  Connecticut  in  many  ways  is  J.  I. 
Pease,  engraver,  poet,  inventor,  crayon-artist,  and  water-colorist ;  for  sev- 
eral years  past  an  extensive  farmer  as  well,  on  ''Brook-Trout  Farm,"  upon 
Twin  Lakes,  Salisbury,  Conn.  He  was  born  in  Norfolk,  Litchfield  Coun- 
ty, Conn.,  Aug.  9,  1809;  and,  after  going  through  all  the  activities  of  a 
boy  whose  eyes  and  ears  are  wide  open  to  what  is  possible  in  the  world, 
juvenile  experiments  and  inventions  of  all  sorts,  he  was  finally,  at  the  age 
of  fourteen,  placed  in  a  dry-goods  store  of  Hartford,  to  the  end  that  he 
might  expend  his  energy  on  the  practical  side  of  life.  It  was  too  practical 
for  him,  or,  more  properly,  not  practical  enough  ;  and  he  hailed  the  day 
when  he  was  sent  home  in  disgrace.  He  was  fortunately  consulted  as  to 
his  next  apprenticeship,  and  chose  a  position  under  Oliver  Pelton  of  Hart- 
ford to  learn  the  art  of  engraving.  This  has  been  his  life-work ;  and,  as 
not  within  the  precincts  of  the  present  subject,  a  large  part  of  his  interest- 


Seth  W.  Cheney. 


75 


ing  history  must  be  dropped  until  a  later  volume.  Crayon-drawing  he 
studied  for  two  winters  in  the  National  Academy  at  New  York.  His 
chief  work,  as  crayon  artist  and  painter,  was  performed  in  Philadelphia, 


JOSEPH  IVES  PEASE. 

where  he  settled  in  1835,  making  many  crayon  heads  at  good  prices,  and 
giving  lessons  to  a  number  of  pupils.  His  son,  a  rising  water-color  artist, 
is  mentioned  later.  He  is  still  actively  engaged  in  the  pursuits  of  his 
life. 

SETH   W.  CHENEY. 

That  man  is  rarely  found  of  whom  one  may  speak  wisely,  and  not  too 
well.  Such  a  man,  however,  was  Seth  W.  Cheney,  born  in  South  Manches- 
ter in  1 8 10,  a  member  of  the  family  so  widely  associated  with  the  silk-manu- 
factories of  Connecticut.  As  a  student  in  art,  and  a  man  in  the  world,  he 
was  every  thing  that  student  and  man  could  be.  The  influence  of  his 
brother,  John  Cheney  the  engraver,  was  obvious  in  guiding  well  at  the 
outset  the  first  thoughts  of  art,  thus  rendering  more  easily  attainable  the 
future  excellence.  From  the  study  of  engraving,  natural  inclination  made 
an  easy  step  into  the  art  of  crayon-drawing.  In  this  branch  Mr.  Cheney 
secured  the  great  success  of  his  life,  that  has  placed  his  name  nobly  and 
indelibly  in  the  history  of  American  art.    To  the  casual  observer  it  some- 


76 


Art  and  Artists  in  Connecticut. 


times  appears,  that  because  this  is  the  first  thing  taught  the  student  in 
painting,  and  the  beginning  of  all  the  arts  of  design,  —  the  simplest  form 
of  the  art,  in  fact,  —  it  is  also  the  lowest.  A  little  thought  will  disclose  a 
vital  error.  Drawing  is  essential  to  every  artist ;  but,  over  this,  color  is  a 
very  serviceable  cloak,  that  often  covers  a  multitude  of  sins.  They  are  to  be 
found  even  among  the  masters,  whose  seductive  coloring  enhances  a  result 
so  erroneous  in  drawing,  that,  if  the  outline  were  to  be  left  naked,  a  child 
could  better  it.  Drawing  is  made  the  figure  which  color  clothes,  and 
clothes  gracefully  ;  but  surely,  if  it  were  necessary  to  institute  a  compari- 
son between  the  two,  the  greater  art  would  be  to  make  the  perfect  figure, 


"memory."  —  FROM  A  CRAYON-DRAWING  MADE  BY  SETH  CHENEY  FOR  MRS.  A.   L.  BOTTA. 

in  complete  grace  and  loveliness,  with  light  and  shadow,  life  and  character, 
in  simple  black  and  white.  This  distinction  Mr.  Cheney  felt,  and  often 
expressed  with  great  force.  It  was  so  apparent  to  him,  that  once,  when 
induced  to  attempt  work  in  oil  (in  which  good  critics  assured  him  he  met 
with  admirable  success),  he  immediately  laid  down  his  palette  again  in 
much  the  same  spirit  that  David  discarded  the  armor  of  Saul,  satisfied 
that  color  was  an  incumbrance  for  him  to  avoid.  He  was  the  first  to  give 
the  art  of  crayon-drawing  independent  prominence  in  the  United  States. 
It  was  looked  upon  much  as  water-color  painting  has  been  regarded  until 
within  a  few  years.    It  required  a  bold  and  efficient  man  to  place  himself 


Seth  W.  Cheney, 


77 


as  its  advocate,  with  nothing  to  sustain  him  but  his  ability  in  that  one 
branch  ;  but  he  championed  the  art  so  effectively,  that  while  in  Paris,  the 
home  of  crayon-artists,  he  won  for  himself  public  acknowledgment  as 
"the  greatest  American  artist  in  crayon-drawing." 

In  personal  appearance  Mr.  Cheney  was  tall  and  thin,  with  light  hair, 
gray  eyes,  a  high  forehead,  and  remarkably  fine-shaped  head.  At  times 
through  his  life  he  was  afflicted  with  a  severe  pain  in  his  head,  which 
materially  interrupted  his  work.  He  was  extremely  social  within  a  limited 
circle  of  friends,  but,  beyond  it,  reserved  and  retiring.  A  natural  reluc- 
tance to  making  new  friends  asserted  itself  powerfully  in  his  work,  where 
he  found  it  so  difficult  that  he  sometimes  refused  to  execute  a  portrait 
when  he  discovered  what  he  termed  a  moral  antagonism  "  between  him- 
self and  his  sitter,  —  a  sacrifice  rarely  made  to  art. 

During  his  study  of  art  Mr.  Cheney  made  four  trips  to  Europe,  spend- 
ing most  of  his  time  in  Paris  and  Rome.  In  Rome  he  placed  himself 
under  the  instruction  of  Ferrero,  who,  at  parting,  pronounced  his  eye  for 
color  equal  to  his  drawing.  Mr.  Cheney  was,  however,  over-ready  to 
admit  that  even  his  drawing  was  very  imperfect ;  and  only  the  great 
demand  made  upon  him,  through  the  wide  popular  reputation  he  had 
gained,  prevented  him  from  withdrawing  from  public  view  altogether, 
killed  by  his  own  criticism.  The  case  of  the  oil-portraits  of  Mr.  E.  W. 
Bull  the  druggist,  and  wife,  executed  on  his  return  from  Rome,  was  but 
an  exaggerated  example  of  his  opinion  of  all  of  his  work.  The  pictures 
present  every  indication  of  refinement,  good  taste,  and  ability,  —  genius, 
in  fact ;  but  the  artist  failed  to  see  his  own  power,  and  for  a  long  time 
refused  to  touch  the  brush  again  for  any  work  whatever.  Toward  the 
close  of  his  life,  however,  he  did  some  very  fine  ideal  work  in  oil.  His 
greatest  power  was  in  obtaining  a  thoroughly  expressive  likeness,  indica- 
tive of  individuality  in  wonderful  detail.  He  worked  rapidly,  sometimes 
completing  a  bust  portrait  in  six  hours.  Naturally,  his  critical  mind  pre- 
vented much  of  his  ideal  work  from  ever  coming  into  public  view ;  and 
from  his  evident  masterpiece,  the  "Head  of  a  Roman  Girl,"  it  may  only 
be  surmised  how  much  valuable  work  has  been  lost  to  the  world  in  the 
artist's  repeated  destruction  of  his  own  productions. 

He  was  a  genius  in  the  full  sense  of  that  expressive  word,  unequalled  in 
the  delicate  delineation  of  the  female  head,  a  keen  lover  of  all  beauty, 
particularly  susceptible  to  any  discord,  fastidious,  sympathetic,  and  withal 
possessing  a  strong  personality.  His  tastes  in  art  were  too  refined,  his 
standard  too  high,  to  allow  the  possibility  of  satisfaction.  To  the  perse- 
vering encouragement  of  his  wife,  Mrs.  Ednah  D.  Cheney,  must  be  cred- 
ited much  of  his  later  work,  which  would  otherwise  have  probably  been 
left  undone,  or  destroyed  even  before  it  was  finished. 


78 


Art  and  Artists  in  Connecticut. 


His  death,  which  occurred  in  his  native  village  in  1856,  was  the  result 
of  a  lingering,  calm  decline,  and  was  fitly  supplemented  by  a  moonlight 
burial. 

C.  W.  ELDRIDGE. 

A  member  of  the  old  miniature-portrait  firm  of  Parker  &  Eldridge, 
C.  W.  Eldridge,  born  in  New  London,  Conn.,  in  November,  181 1,  at 
present  resides  in  Hartford.  He  studied  for  a  year  under  T.  H.  Parker 
in  Hartford  ;  then  entered  into  partnership  with  him,  which  continued  for 
nine  years,  when  Mr.  Parker  was  disabled  by  disease.  Shortly  after  the 
partnership  was  formed  they  went  to  New  York,  remaining  a  little  over 
a  year ;  then  upon  an  extended  trip  through  the  South.  For  three  years 
after  Mr.  Parker's  withdrawal,  Mr.  Eldridge  continued  miniature-portrait 
painting  in  the  South  ;  but  photographs  reducing  the  orders,  and  trouble 
with  his  eyes,  induced  him  to  abandon  art. 

JOHN  MITCHELL. 

An  intimate  friend  of  the  artist  John  Mitchell  asserts  that  he  was  born 
in  Hartford,  181 1.  He  spent  his  life  in  Hartford,  with  the  exception  of 
the  years  1857-8,  when  he  lived  in  New  London.  He  was  handsome, 
good-natured,  and  tragic  in  manner.  He  often  played  Richard  HI.  in 
Wyat's  company,  at  the  City-Hotel  Hall  ;  and  painted  with  a  bold,  free 
hand  that  invariably  made  an  attractive  portrait,  and  gave  him  as  exten- 
sive a  local  popularity  as  he  could  have  desired.  Throughout  his  life, 
however,  he  was  fiercely  addicted  to  liquor,  and,  in  1866,  died  an  unfor- 
tunate death  in  the  New-York  Hospital  as  the  result. 

WILLIAM  PAGE. 

It  cannot  well  be  considered  borrowing  another's  laurels,  though  Wil- 
liam Page  was  born  in  Albany,  N.Y.,  18 11,  to  note  that  in  1848  he  was 
painting  in  Middletown,  Conn.  This  greatest  explorer  in  art,  the  ardent 
enthusiast,  never  lost  an  opportunity,  throughout  his  eventful  activity,  to 
impart  to  any  willing  listener  his  various  theories,  and  to  explain  the 
peculiarities  of  the  system  he  was  investigating  in  the  picture  he  was 
painting  at  the  time.  Being  well  informed  himself,  he  could  not  fail  of 
producing  impressions  strongly  savored  with  valuable  hints,  regardless  of 
the  importance  of  his  immediate  subject.  It  is  a  most  interesting  occupa- 
tion to  trace  the  train  set  on  fire  by  an  intelligent  enthusiast,  in  whatever 
department.  The  results  of  Mr.  Page's  visit  in  Middletown  may  be  easily 
recognized  long  afterward. 


Joseph  Ropes.  —  Henry  Bryant, 


79 


JOSEPH  ROPES. 

A  popular  crayon -artist  and  drawing-teacher  since,  the  landscape- 
painter  Joseph  Ropes  resided  in  Hartford  from  185 1  to  1865,  when  he 
sailed  for  Europe,  where  he  remained  in  Italy  for  eleven  years,  returning 
to  America  to  establish  himself  in  Philadelphia,  where  he  still  resides. 
Among  other  valuable  influences  he  has  exerted  for  art  is  one  in  the 
shape  of  a  volume  on  Linear  Perspective,"  widely  used  over  the  State  and 
elsewhere.  Several  prominent  artists  of  to-day  were  under  his  direction 
when  in  Hartford  ;  and  many  friends  remember  him  with  great  admiration, 
both  as  a  careful,  tasteful,  successful  artist,  and  admirable  gentleman. 
He  was  born  in  Salem,  Mass.,  1812.  Always  intent  upon  art,  unavoidable 
circumstances  prevented  his  undertaking  the  study  till  in  his  thirty-fifth 
year.  Then  he  studied  with  John  R.  Smith  in  New  York,  and  also  in  the 
National  Academy. 

HENRY  BRYANT. 

A  most  estimable  man,  combining  the  graces  of  humanity  and  the  love 
of  art,  Henry  Bryant,  a  native  of  East  Hartford,  was  born  in  181 2.  His 
boyhood  was  in  neither  extreme  of  opulence  or  poverty.  A  good  common- 
school  education  laid  the  foundation  for  the  life  of  valuable  thought  and 
investigation  that  has  followed  it.  A  native  tendency  toward  art  was 
early  manifest  in  the  passion  for  picture-raaking,  with  any  material  that 
offered  the  greatest  facilities  at  the  time ;  and  successful  caricatures  often 
brought  the  schoolboy  into  the  depths  of  bitterness.  Another  bent  was 
also  developed  with  even  more  force  than  art  in  a  strongly  scientific  turn 
of  mind.  Both  fortunately  and  unfortunately,  a  double  die  was  cast.  By 
coincidence  one  course  of  life  was  pointed  out  to  him,  by  necessity  another. 
He  was  assisting  in  hoeing  potatoes  one  summer  afternoon,  when  a 
laborer  working  near  him  stopped,  leaned  upon  his  hoe,  and  said,  "  Do 
you  know,  boy,  they  say  this  world  is  round."  It  was  a  fact  not  at  all 
new,  or  newly  put ;  but  the  moment  was  the  one  chosen  by  Destiny.  A 
door  was  suddenly  opened  in  the  commonplace  utterance,  by  which  he 
entered  into  the  vast  researches  of  astronomy.  This  study  has  been  his 
life's  labor,  at  times  even  greatly  at  the  expense  of  his  art.  His  astro- 
nomical inventions  are  both  numerous  and  valuable. 

The  pathway  into  art  was  opened  to  him  when,  but  fifteen  years  old, 
he  was  placed  as  apprentice  under  Mr.  E.  Huntington  to  learn  the  trade 
of  the  engraver.  This  occupation  he  pursued  for  five  years,  during  the 
latter  part  of  which  time  he  painted  several  portraits  of  acquaintances 
with  such  success,  that  at  twenty  he  gave  up  engraving,  and  secured 


8o 


Art  and  Artists  in  Connecticut, 


instruction  in  art  from  John  Coles.  After  studying  a  year,  having  mas- 
tered the  rudiments  and  developed  a  decided  taste,  he  became,  as  was  the 
popular  custom  of  the  day,  an  itinerant  portrait-painter.  After  tv^o  years 
of  this,  he  opened  a  studio  in  the  city  of  New  York.  He  was  an  artist  of 
personal  popularity  there,  as  many  letters  received  from  his  friends  of  that 
period  unhesitatingly  assert.  In  1837  he  was  made  an  associate  of  the 
National  Academy  of  Design,  being  proposed  by  Professor  Morse.  Three 
years  afterward  he  married,  and  returned  to  his  father's  home,  where,  and 
in  Hartford,  he  practised  portrait-painting  for  four  years.  He  was,  with 
James  Willard,  in  1844,  the  first  to  take  up. the  daguerrotype  ;  and  spent 
the  next  two  years  in  Virginia,  making  it  a  successful  experiment.  In 


HENRY  BRYANT. 


1850  he  began  a  more  careful  study  of  landscape-painting,  which  he  has 
since  pursued  in  an  equal  degree  with  portrait-painting,  in  the  same  studio 
(the  one  which  he  now  occupies),  for  a  quarter  of  a  century. 

In  theology,  as  well  as  art  and  science,  Mr.  Bryant's  life  has  been  one 
of  peculiar  thought  and  investigation.  From  holding  precisely  opposite 
ideas,  he  has  by  slow  degrees  been  led  to  adopt  the  full  theory  of  the 
Spiritualists.  Resulting  from  this  is  a  large  study,  yet  unfinished,  The 
Spirit's  Birth,"  a  thoroughly  original  and  strongly  imaginative  conception, 
arranged  with  excellent  effect  of  light  and  shade.  He  has  at  present  upon 
his  easel  a  view  of  Lake  George,  of  merit  both  in  drawing  and  coloring. 
Many  landscapes  and  ideal  pieces  of  Mr.  Bryant's  painting  are  owned  in 
Hartford.    Few  men  have  succeeded  in  a  long  life  in  building  and  sus- 


Charles  Loring  Elliott.  —  Henry  C.  Flagg.  8i 


taining  such  a  kindly  reputation  as  graces  Mr.  Bryant.  A  New- York 
artist  of  celebrity  writes  of  him,  As  a  man  and  a  friend  I  never  met 
his  equal."  Another :  "  I  once  went  on  a  sketching  trip  with  him  up 
your  beautiful  Connecticut  Valley,  and  found  him,  there  as  everywhere 
else,  generous,  enthusiastic,  and  industrious." 

CHARLES  LORING  ELLIOTT. 

In  1865,  for  the  fourth  time,  Charles  L.  Elliott  visited  Hartford,  set  up 
his  easel,  and  advertised  for  orders.  Among  the  works  which  he  executed 
were  full-length  portraits  of  Samuel  Colt's  family.  There  are  some  who 
consider  him  the  greatest  portrait-painter  of  America.  It  is  more  prob- 
able that  he  might  have  been.  In  character,  modelling,  and  drawing  he 
had  great  merit.  He  never  fully  succeeded  in  delineating  a  female 
face ;  but  his  forte,  in  which  certainly  few  ever  excelled  him,  lay  in 
depicting  the  bronzed  lines  of  age,  the  furrows  and  wrinkles  of  character, 
and  in  translating  them  correctly.  His  flesh-tints  were  admirable ;  and 
gray  hair,  under  his  touch,  became  literally  "a  crown  of  glory."  Many 
consider  Mr.  Elliott's  best  portraits  two  that  he  painted  for  his  brother- 
artist  F.  E.  Church,  —  one  of  the  artist  himself ;  the  other  of  his  father, 
the  late  Joseph  Church  of  Hartford,  —  both  in  possession  of  Mrs.  Joseph 
Church.  Mr.  Elliott  was  born  in  Scipio,  N.Y.,  181 2.  His  life  was  one 
continuous  struggle  against  obstacles,  and  at  last  the  yielding  of  one 
overcome.  He  was  a  man  proverbially  quick  in  wit.  James  Beard,  at  a 
dinner,  responding  to  the  toast  High  Art,"  said  that  Elliott  had  lately 
told  him  he  had  made  up  his  mind  that  high  art  in  America  was  the 
shape  of  the  canvas  and  the  depth  of  the  frame.  Elliott  was  engaged  to 
paint  the  portrait  of  Daniel  Webster,  when  the  statesman's  last  sickness 
prevented. 

HENRY  C.  FLAGG. 

The  name  of  Flagg  is  most  intimately  associated  with  art  in  Connecti- 
cut. Already  five  children  and  children's  children  of  the  late  Mayor 
Flagg  of  New  Haven  have  appeared  before  the  easel.  The  blood  of  their 
uncle  Washington  Allston,  brother-in-law  of  Mayor  Flagg,  is  strongly 
asserted  in  his  nephews.  The  oldest  son,  Henry  C.  Flagg,  was  born  in 
New  Haven  in  1812.  When  a  child,  returning  from  South  Carolina,  he, 
with  the  rest  of  the  passengers,  was  made  a  prisoner  by  an  English 
frigate.  This  early  tragedy  gave  a  spice  to  life  upon  the  sea  that  never 
wore  off.  In  school  he  was  the  popular  caricaturist,  and  celebrated  among 
the  juveniles  for  his  successful  likenesses  on  blackboards,  doors,  and  old 


82 


Art  and  Artists  in  Connecticut. 


plank  fences.  When  sixteen,  the  charms  of  the  sea  drew  him  into  the 
navy.  In  1832  he  returned  to  New  Haven,  and  began  painting.  His 
passion  was  still  for  marine-views,  though  he  also  developed  much  skill  in 
animal-drawing.  But  the  navy  offered  more  than  art,  and  he  went  back 
to  sea ;  though  he  compromised  by  taking  his  easel  with  him,  and  painting 
w^henever  time  and  tide  allowed.  From  the  deck  of  a  man-of-war  he 
painted  a  marine-view,  which  he  exhibited  in  Brazil,  and  was  made  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Imperial  Academy.  He  died  at  Jamestown  during  the  Rebel- 
lion, just  after  receiving  command  of  a  Northern  ship.  It  would  evidently 
be  unjust  to  judge  of  his  ability  by  his  work,  though  a  favorable  criticism 
might  be  offered. 

CHAUNCEY  B.  IVES. 

The  sculptor  C.  B.  Ives  was  born  in  Hamden,  Conn.,  in  181 2.  He  was 
a  farmer's  son,  and  apparently  destined  to  become  himself  a  farmer.  But 
the  yoke  was  unbearable  ;  and  when  sixteen  he  apprenticed  himself  to  E. 
R.  Northrup,  wood-carver,  and,  later,  studied  for  a  short  time  with  Heze- 
kiah  Augur.  After  rapidly  consuming  all  that  he  found  to  be  learned  in 
New  Haven,  he  went  to  Boston.  His  stand  in  art  had  been  very  timid. 
He  did  not  know  himself.  He  locked  himself  in  his  room  in  Boston,  and 
worked.  He  did  his  utmost  to  discover  how  much  that  was.  The  result 
was  a  fine  marble  bust,  which  shortly  afterward  won  for  him  a  gold  medal. 
Orders  began  to  accumulate ;  and  he  soon  formed  the  plan  of  removing  to 
Florence,  Italy,  for  better  facilities.  He  spent  six  years  there  ;  then  went 
to  Rome,  where  he  has  now  resided  for  twenty-five  years,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  transient  visits  in  America.  This  is  partially  for  his  art,  and  also 
for  his  health  ;  four  brothers  and  sisters  having  died  of  consumption. 
When  taking  some  casts  in  Meriden,  Conn.,  in  1841,  a  physician  whom  he 
consulted  warned  him  that  he  was  rapidly  declining  with  the  same  disease. 
His  characteristic  comment  to  a  friend  was,  "  I  shall  not  consult  that  man 
again." 

In  1855  Mr.  Ives  opened  a  studio  in  New  York,  intending  to  remain 
two  years.  This  studio,  a  marvel  of  beauty,  is  justly  spoken  of  at  length 
by  Mr.  Tuckerman.  It  was  adorned  with  much  of  the  artist's  original 
work  that  had  already  attained  great  excellence.  Orders  appeared  so 
rapidly,  that  in  two  months  he  returned  to  Rome.  Mr.  Ives  was  given 
the  State  order  for  the  statues  of  Gov.  Trumbull  and  Roger  Sherman  for 
the  Washington  Monument.  The  fine  piece  of  bronze,  Bishop  Brownell, 
on  the  Trinity-College  grounds  in  Hartford,  is  also  his  His  bust  of  the 
great  architect  Towne  is  one  of  the  finest  pieces  of  marble  in  the  Yale 
Art  Collection.    His  work  is  invariably  pleasing,  and  well  executed.  His 


William  James  Linton.  —  Luther  Terry, 


83 


ideal  subjects  are  from  the  commonplaces  of  life,  magically  treated  in  an 
easy  and  refined  manner.  He  is  a  careful  student  and  industrious  artist. 
His  success  has  been  great.  In  1862  he  married,  and  now  has  a  family  of 
five  children. 


The  wood-engraver,  designer,  and  water-color  artist,  W.  J.  Linton,  of 
extended  repute  both  in  Europe  and  America,  has  resided  in  New  Haven 
for  the  past  eight  years.  He  was  born  in  London,  1812  ;  and,  though  his 
life  has  been  devoted  to  designing  and  engraving,  he  has  also  achieved 
prominent  success  in  water-color  painting.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Soci- 
ety of  Painters  in  Water-Colors.  A  complete  history  of  his  remarkable 
life  is  contained  in  Routledge's  *'Men  of  the  Time." 


In  the  town  of  Enfield,  Conn.,  Luther  Terry  was  born  in  18 13.  He 
passed  his  boyhood  there,  but  when  seventeen  years  old  came  to  Hart- 


ford, and  was  apprenticed  to  a  bookbinder.  He  learned  the  trade,  but 
found  it  wholly  unsatisfactory,  and  gradually  turned  his  attention  toward 
portraiture,  for  which  he  had  always  realized  a  fond  ambition.  He  began 
study  under  Philip  Hewins ;  but  in  1838,  before  his  position  in  art  could 
be  established,  he  went  to  Italy,  where  he  has  since  remained,  with  the 


WILLIAM  JAMES  LINTON. 


LUTHER  TERRY. 


LUTHER  TERRY. 


84 


Art  and  Artists  in  Co7i7tecticut, 


exception  of  occasional  visits  to  America.  His  first  year  he  passed  in 
Florence,  studying  in  the  Imperial  and  Royal  Academy,  and  copying  in 
the  galleries ;  then  went  to  Rome,  which  has  since  been  his  home.  In 
Rome  he  began  studying  and  drawing  from  the  antique  and  life,  from  the 
frescos  by  Raffaelle,  under  a  master,  spending  the  summer  in  Venice. 
Mr.  Terry  has  built  up  a  high  reputation,  and  met  with  most  flattering 
success.  He  has  produced  many  ideal  pieces  upon  large  canvases,  chiefly 
scriptural  subjects,  that  are  owned  in  various  parts  of  America.  One  of 
these,  possessing  much  merit,  though  among  his  early  works,  hangs  in  the 
Wadsworth  Athenaeum  Gallery.  The  coloring  is  especially  interesting,  as 
well  as  the  modelling.  His  style  has  developed  into  a  decided  Tintoretto, 
with  a  strong  feeling  for  bright  color.  He  has  been  among  the  most  pop- 
ular of  American  artists  in  Italy,  possessing,  in  portraiture  especially, 
peculiar  power.  He  is  an  excellent  colorist,  and  extremely  careful  and 
conscientious  in  execution.  His  refined  taste,  and  delicate  appreciation 
of  character  and  female  grace,  will  long  preserve  his  name  as  an  im- 
portant factor  in  the  art  of  America.  He  is  a  man  of  wide  information, 
and  a  keen  sense  of  justice.  His  ideal  pieces  are  comparatively  few,  but 
exceptionally  fine.  His  first  exhibition  at  the  Academy  in  1854  was  an 
ideal  female  head,  that  justly  won  almost  unlimited  praise. 

He  has  upon  his  easel,  nearly  completed  at  the  present  time,  a  work 
of  three  years,  pronounced  one  of  his  best  paintings.  It  is  Solomon's 
Dream."  The  central  figure  lies  asleep.  In  the  background  are  alle- 
gorical figures  of  Wisdom,  Riches,  Honor,  Fame,  Beauty,  each  followed 
by  a  child  bearing  an  appropriate  token.  These  figures  are  enveloped  in 
a  bright  light,  contrasting  with  the  light  of  a  lamp  burning  at  the  head 
of  the  sleeping  figure.  It  possesses  marked  merit  in  design,  as  well  as 
execution. 

S.  S.  LYMAN. 

Sylvester  S.  Lyman,  at  present  and  for  many  years  a  portrait-painter 
in  Hartford,  born  in  Easthampton,  Mass.,  Sept.  24,  18 13,  began  the  study 
of  portraiture  under  Mr.  Hewins  in  Hartford  in  1839,  continuing  it  later 
under  Edwin  White.  Within  a  few  years  he  has  devoted  more  attention 
to  landscape-painting ;  and,  finding  sufificient  patronage  in  Hartford,  has 
done  but  little  elsewhere. 

J.  W.  STANCLIFF. 

For  many  years  the  marine-painter  J.  W.  Stancliff  has  occupied  a 
studio  in  Hartford.  He  was  born  in  Chatham,  Conn.,  on  the  east  bank  of 
the  river,  in  18 14.    From  childhood  his  propensities  were  all  with  the  sea; 


George  H,  Cushman, 


85 


and,  when  the  love  of  art  obtained  an  influential  hold  upon  his  life,  natu- 
rally the  first  and  strongest  impressions  were  of  the  sea.  His  knowledge 
of  waves  and  shipping  is  extraordinary.  Opportunities  for  an  art-educa- 
tion were  limited;  but  nature  and  love  have  done  much  for  him.  His  first 
steps  in  color  were  taken  when  sixteen,  through  the  proverbial  medium  of 
the  carriage-shop ;  after  which  he  also  studied  copperplate  engraving. 
He  taught  the  first  drawing-class  established  in  America,  in  connection 
with  regular  public-school  exercises,  earnestly  supported  by  the  Rev. 
Thomas  H.  Gallaudet  He  studied  oil-painting  under  A.  H.  Emmons  and 
J.  B.  Flagg,  and  water-color  under  Benjamin  H.  Coe.  During  a  connec- 
tion of  fifteen  years  with  telegraphy,  he  made  drawings  of  the  "  House  " 
and  "Combination"  instruments  on  exhibition  in  Hartford,  which  won  for 
him  the  gold  medal.  He  has  painted  extensively  on  the  Atlantic  coast ; 
and  his  views  are  of  great  variety,  possessing  much  merit  as  honest  repre- 
sentations, and  specimens  of  fidelity  to  the  subject,  more  acceptable  than 
frequent  in  marine-work.  He  is  President  of  the  Connecticut  School  of 
Design,  and  an  enthusiastic  supporter  of  art. 


GEORGE  H.  CUSHMAN. 

It  has  been  a  policy  strictly  observed  in  these  sketches,  for  several 
reasons  thought  desirable,  to  avoid  inserting  verbatim  any  correspondence, 
either  from  the  artist  in  question  or  from  his  friends.  Just  once  this  rule 
will  be  overstepped.  Concerning  the  miniature-portrait  painter  George 
H.  Cushman,  whose  life,  celebrated  as  it  was,  was  much  more  a  private 
than  a  public  life,  two  characteristic  letters  have  been  received  from  per- 
sons most  intimately  acquainted  with  the  true  nature  of  the  artist,  and 
of  all  writers  best  fitted  to  portray  it.  Many  other  sketches  would  have 
been  much  improved  by  this  same  adoption,  had  not  certain  general  objec- 
tions prevented. 

Mr.  Cushman  was  born  June  5,  18 14,  in  Windham,  Conn.  He  was  in 
many  respects  a  superior  artist,  with  a  peculiar  faculty  for  drawing 
rapidly,  effectively,  and  correctly.  Among  many  excellent  miniature 
paintings  which  he  left  in  Hartford  is  one  of  Daniel  Wadsworth.  His 
coloring  was  characteristically  soft  and  pleasing.  He  did  not  adopt  the 
art  in  which  he  displayed  such  talent  till  comparatively  late  in  life,  having 
first  mastered  the  art  of  engraving  under  Asaph  Willard  in  Hartford. 
He  was  a  fine  water-colorist  in  every  department,  and  some  of  his  last  and 
best  work  was  done  in  Newington.  Grace  Greenwood  writes  :  "  I  am 
happy  to  learn  that  you  are  writing  a  sketch  of  our  noble  friend  George 
Cushman.    I  felt  that  not  enough  was  said  at  the  time  of  his  death,  —  a 


86 


Art  and  Artists  in  Connecticut, 


death  which  seemed  to  his  friends  as  untimely  as  it  was  sad  ;  which  took 
from  us  a  warm,  true,  loyal  heart,  companionship  the  most  genial,  friend- 
ship the  most  generous  yet  just,  the  most  ardent  yet  reliable,  and  from 
the  life  of  art  a  hand  of  cunning,  a  fancy  of  rare  refinement,  an  eye  and 
thirst  for  beauty,  perceptions  the  most  quick  and  accurate,  a  fine  intuition 
of  color,  an  instinct  of  grace,  a  soul  for  all  the  spiritual  meanings  and  har- 
monics of  art.  His  miniature  works  were  always  remarkable  for  purity 
and  simplicity  of  character  as  well  as  tone.  The  best  and  sweetest  and 
truest  traits  of  his  sitters  he  could  call  forth  and  fix  in  those  fairy  portraits. 
The  most  minute  of  his  male  heads  were  remarkable  for  an  air  of  earnest 
manhood.    The  most  exquisite  of  his  female  heads  were  distinguished  by 


GEORGE  H.  CUSHMAN. 


a  certain  breadth  and  depth  of  womanliness,  giving  them  a  dignity  which 
mere  grand  proportions  cannot  give.  Cushman  seemed  to  me  to  work  in 
the  essence  of  color,  so  wondrously  soft  yet  clear  were  his  tints,  so 
dreamy,  so  aerially  delicate,  were  his  lights  and  shades.  To  our  friend, 
as  a  man,  could  truly  have  been  applied  that  much-abused  term  '  chival- 
rous.' He  was  ever  ready  to  champion  the  weak  and  the  wronged;  and 
his  indignation  against  injustice,  and  his  scorn  of  meanness,  were  some- 
thing worth  seeing.  He  was  intense  in  his  likes  and  dislikes ;  but,  while 
he  never  'went  back'  on  a  friend,  he  never  revenged  himself  on  an  enemy. 
Life  was  not  a  holiday  to  him,  but  it  was  not  a  wearisome  task-day.  He 
found  much  beauty  in  nature,  much  good  in  humanity.  He  never  lost 
his  faith  in  his  fellow,  or  his  faith  in  his  Father." 


George  H.  Cushman. 


87 


Mrs.  Botta  writes  :  "My  acquaintance  with  Mr.  Cushman  dates  back  to 
the  period  of  early  youth,  and  an  unbroken  friendship  of  so  many  years' 
standing  gave  me  every  opportunity  of  knowing  and  appreciating  the 
many  noble  qualities  he  possessed.  His  character  was  a  rare  combination 
of  masculine  strength  and  feminine  purity  and  delicacy.  He  had  a  high 
sense  of  honor,  which  led  him  to  detest  every  thing  that  was  base  and  un- 
worthy, and  a  love  for  the  good  and  the  beautiful  that  made  him  venerate 
and  admire  whatever  appealed  to  that  sense,  whether  he  found  it  in  art,  in 
nature,  or  in  his  fellow-beings.  Sincerity  was  another  marked  trait,  which 
rendered  him  incapable  of  untruthfulness  or  dissimulation ;  and  his  natu- 
ralness and  simplicity  of  character  made  him  impatient  of  vanity  and 
affectation,  in  whatever  form  or  in  whatever  persons  they  manifested 
themselves.  His  modesty  was  so  extreme,  that  it  became  a  defect ;  for, 
with  a  higher  and  more  just  estimation  of  himself,  he  would  have  accom- 
plished more,  and  impressed  others  with  a  more  true  idea  of  his  merits. 
His  early  tastes  were  for  a  military  education  at  West  Point,  and  an  army 
life  ;  but  he  was  prevented  from  following  his  inclinations,  and  he  remained 
in  civil  life,  where  he  was  to  some  extent  misplaced.  The  powerful  frame, 
exuberant  vitality,  and  commanding  presence,  that  made  the  ideal  of  a  mili- 
tary hero,  seemed  not  to  have  found  their  highest  or  rather  their  widest 
sphere  in  the  artist's  studio. 

"The  personal  appearance  of  Mr.  Cushman  may  be  best  described  by 
the  word  distingiLisJied.  In  the  street,  in  the  crowded  assembly,  wherever 
he  went,  people  asked,  '  Who  is  he } '  and  the  impression  produced  by 
his  strikingly  fine  head  and  well-proportioned  figure  was  deepened  by  the 
entire  unconsciousness  of  his  manner. 

"Outside  of  the  limit  of  private  life  Mr.  Cushman  was  chiefly  known  as 
an  artist,  and  under  different  circumstances  he  would  have  taken  the  high- 
est rank  as  a  miniature  painter.  But,  as  I  have  said,  he  was  inclined  to 
under-estimate  his  own  genius  ;  he  lacked  the  stimulus  of  pecuniary  neces- 
sity ;  and  for  many  years  he  suffered  from  an  intensely  painful  malady 
which  to  some  extent  paralyzed  alike  his  ambition  and  his  physical  energy. 
The  pictures  he  painted  were  done  mostly  for  his  friends,  and  not  profes- 
sionally. They  are  of  unequal  merit ;  but  of  the  best  of  them  it  is  not 
too  much  to  say,  that  they  compare  favorably  with  those  of  Malbone,  if 
they  do  not  equal  them  ;  and,  if  he  had  devoted  himself  to  the  art,  he 
would  have  achieved  a  renown  as  high." 

More  than  this  could  not  be  added.  Mr.  Cushman  died  in  Jersey 
City,  Aug.  3,  1876,  at  a  water-cure  establishment. 


88 


Art  and  Artists  in  Connecticut. 


DENISON  KIMBERLY. 

The  engraver  Denison  Kimberly,  born  in  Guilford,  1814,  of  parents 
too  poor  to  offer  him  any  facilities,  early  determined  upon  a  life  of  art. 
He  said  of  himself  that  he  earned  just  enough  at  clam-digging  to  learn 
how  to  make  a  clam  in  crayon,  when  he  discovered  that  he  could  not 
support  himself,  and  study  too  ;  and  was  obliged  to  accept  the  next  best 
thing,  and  be  an  engraver.  He  was  a  fellow-pupil  with  George  H.  Gush- 
man  under  Asaph  Willard,  who,  in  tlie  course  of  his  life,  has  instructed 
so  many  prominent  engravers.  Mr.  Kimberly  took  a  high  position  among 
them  ;  but  in  1858  the  passion  to  paint  overcame  the  pride  in  his  present 
success,  and  he  went  to  Boston  to  study  oil.  For  four  years  after  his 
return  he  painted  in  Hartford  and  Manchester.  A  fine  specimen  of  his 
work  is  a  portrait  of  Seth  Gheney,  strong  in  outline,  but  remarkably  soft 
in  feature  ;  a  good  likeness,  and  the  work  of  a  bold,  free  hand. 

GEORGE  A.  GILBERT. 

George  A.  Gilbert,  an  Englishman  of  extensive  and  well-earned 
reputation,  came  to  Hartford  in  1874.  William  Howitt,  the  English 
historian,  says  of  him,  "  He  was  a  man  of  superior  education,  much  read- 
ing, an  active  and  accomplished  mind,  a  good  artist,  and  devoted  to  his 
work  with  an  indefatigable  zeal."  He  was  born  in  Chichester,  Eng.,  in 
181 5  ;  and  died  in  Hartford  Dec.  23,  1877.  During  his  residence  in  Hart- 
ford he  was  a  successful  teacher,  and  delivered  several  entertaining  lec- 
tures on  art  in  Springfield.  His  qualifications  in  art  were  very  versatile. 
Naturally  talented,  he  had  attained  an  unusual  degree  of  proficiency  in 
many  branches.  His  characteristic  success  was  in  drawing  forest-trees, 
either  in  oil,  water-color,  pencil,  crayon,  pen,  or  chalk. 

ALFRED  HART. 

In  1838  Alfred  Hart  began  the  study  of  art  in  Norwich,  Conn.,  where 
he  was  born  March  28,  18 16.  He  went  to  New  York  to  continue  his 
study,  established  himself  as  an  artist  in  Norwich,  and  in  1848  moved  to 
Hartford,  where  he  prepared  and  exhibited  a  huge  panorama  of  ''Pilgrim's 
Progress."  His  work  was  largely  bought  by  Albert  Day.  It  was  good  in 
many  respects  ;  but  Mr.  Hart  has  never  devoted  the  undivided  attention  to 
art  that  makes  the  proficient.  He  has  invented  several  useful  machines  ; 
and  for  nearly  twenty-five  years  he  has  lived  in  the  West,  sketching,  paint- 
ing, and  introducing  his  inventions. 


Daniel  Huntington, 


89 


DANIEL  HUNTINGTON. 


The  President  of  the  National  Academy,  Daniel  Huntington,  the 
famous  portrait-painter,  though  born  in  the  "Old  Dutch  City"  (in  18 16), 
is,  after  all,  by  virtue  of  a  long  line  of  ancestors  and  his  own  school-days 
and  early  art-days,  an  artist  of  Connecticut :  yet  so  many  able  pens  have 
lauded  his  virtues,  and  wisely  extolled  his  wonderful  talents,  that  it  would 
be  useless  to  make  another  attempt  in  these  pages.  In  Yale  the  first 
inclination  toward  art  appeared  in  successful  caricatures.  These  were 
strengthened  by  repeated  visits  to  Col.  Trumbull's  studio,  and  in  1835  he 
began  the  direct  study  of  art  under  Professor  Morse.    Four  years  later 


he  went  abroad,  studying  in  Florence  and  Rome,  and,  after  returning,  com- 
pleted his  study  under  William  Page.  In  1850  he  returned  for  a  short  time 
to  New  Haven  to  paint  the  portraits  of  Professors  Silliman  and  Dana  on 
an  order  from  William  P.  Wright,  who  proposed  a  gallery  of  the  leading 
living  artists,  scientists,  literati,  and  merchants.  To  Thomas  Hicks  was 
given  the  order  for  the  writers,  to  Rossiter  the  merchants,  to  Baker  the 
artists,  and  to  Mr.  Huntington  the  order  for  the  scientific  men.  Eight 
years  previously  he  had  painted  for  some  time  in  Thompsonville  on  a 
large  order  from  Mr.  Thompson.  Mr.  Huntington  has  also  been  an  ele- 
gant and  entertaining  writer ;  which  occupation,  however,  a  slight  trouble 
with  his  eyes  has  caused  him  to  abandon. 


DANIEL  HUNTINGTON. 


90 


Art  and  Artists  in  Connecticut, 


WILLIAM  KOHNER. 


A  German  portrait-painter,  William  Kohner,  born  in  Berlin  1816, 
settled  in  Hartford  in  1853,  remaining  there  in  active  occupation  till  1866, 
when  he  removed  to  Warehousepoint,  Conn.,  where  he  died  ten  years 
later.  He  painted  a  smooth,  flat  picture  ;  but  obtained  a  likeness  at  a  low 
price,  and  had  an  abundance  of  orders.  One  of  the  best  pictures  he 
painted  was  of  Gov.  Seymour. 


For  the  past  thirty  years  A.  H.  Emmons  has  painted  portraits  in  Nor- 
wich, Conn.    He  was  born  in  East  Haddam  Dec.  12,  18 16.    In  school  he 


held  the  reputation  of  being  the  picture-maker  of  the  district.  Necessity 
compelled  him  to  learn  the  trade  of  the  house-painter.  A  portrait  which 
he  made  of  a  fellow-laborer  opened  his  eyes  to  the  fact  that  he  might  be 
a  portrait-painter.  He  began  at  once  painting  miniature  portraits  on 
Bristol-board.  When  twenty  years  old  he  married,  and,  being  the  only 
artist  in  Norwich,  found  instantly  sufficient  orders  for  support,  regardless 
of  the  fact  that  the  pictures  were  his  first  experiments.  In  1843  he 
opened  a  studio  in  Hartford,  painting  both  landscapes  and  portraits,  and 
giving  lessons.  At  the  end  of  five  years  he  accepted  a  tempting  offer 
from  Charles  Johnson,  Esq.,  to  return  to  Norwich,  where  he  has  since 


A.    H.  EMMONS. 


A.  H.  EMMONS. 


George  W.  Flagg. 


91 


remained.  His  only  absence  of  any  length  was  during  an  extended  trip 
through  Europe  for  the  purpose  of  studying  the  work  of  the  old  masters. 
His  work  showed  great  improvement  in  refinement,  taste,  and  general 
execution,  after  his  return.  Throughout  his  life  in  Norwich,  Mr.  Johnson 
has  proved  a  firm  and  valuable  friend.  Mr.  Emmons's  native  talent  is 
obvious  in  all  of  his  work,  much  of  which  is  remarkable  for  a  man  who 
never  had  an  instructor  beyond  his  own  observation.  He  painted  a  large 
picture  of  Rome  from  the  Pincio  for  Richard  Lathers,  Esq.,  of  New 
Rochelle,  N.Y.,  which  possessed  not  only  accuracy,  but  decided  artistic 
ability.    He  occupies  one  of  the  pleasantest  studios  in  the  State. 

GEORGE  W.  FLAGG. 

A  second  son  of  Mayor  Flagg  of  New  Haven  to  follow  art  was  born 
in  that  city  in  18 17.  Dunlap  speaks  of  him  as  a  prodigy  as  long  ago  as 
his  History  was  written.  Tuckerman  enters  into  a  poetical  enthusiasm, 
from  which  he  cannot  stoop  to  the  commonplace  details  :  hence  there 
remain  only  these  commonplaces  for  the  present  volume  to  give,  in  all, 
a  full  history  of  a  man  who  sprang  into  fame  quicker  and  earlier  than  any 
other  artist  of  America.  When  three  years  old  George  W.  Flagg  was 
taken  by  his  father  to  South  Carolina,  where  he  remained  for  ten  years. 
His  father  objected  to  an  evident  passion  for  drawing ;  but  secretly  the 
boy  obtained  considerable  knowledge  of  art,  and  all  of  his  pocket-money 
was  devoted  to  materials  for  secret  experiments.  At  last  he  asserted  a 
determination,  and  was  allowed  to  take  a  few  lessons  of  Mr.  Bowman, 
who,  when  the  boy  was  thirteen,  accompanied  him  to  Boston.  His  career 
there  was  simply  marvellous.  He  painted  portraits  at  a  fabulous  price ; 
though  even  so  small  for  his  age,  that  one  of  the  novelties  of  his  life  was 
being  held  in  the  lap  of  one  lady  while  he  was  painting  the  portrait  of 
another,  and  being  allowed  unlimited  license  in  kissing  the  pretty  sitters, 
—  doubtless  a  powerful  inspiration  in  portrait-painting.  A  portrait  of 
Miss  Benjamin  in  particular  created  a  wide  excitement  in  Boston.  Un- 
fortunately, even  at  that  early  age,  he  became  surfeited  with  public  favor. 

While  in  Boston  he  received  the  inestimable  advantage  of  instruction 
from  his  uncle  Washington  Allston,  and  intimate  intercourse  with  him. 
At  the  end  of  two  years  he  returned  to  New  Haven,  where  Mr.  Jocelyn 
and  Thomas  Cole  secured  for  him  the  patronage  of  Luman  Reed  in  an 
arrangement  whereby  he  was  to  have  a  regular  salary  in  exchange  for 
the  ideal  pieces  he  might  paint,  his  work  upon  portraits  to  remain  his 
own.  The  piece  to  which  he  owed  this  good  fortune  was  The  Ghost- 
Story,"  told  by  an  old  hag,  listened  to  by  a  frightened  boy.    A  year  later 


92 


Art  and  Artists  in  Connecticut. 


he  sailed  for  Europe.  The  first  month  he  spent  in  England.  One  of 
his  first  acts  was  to  present  a  letter  to  Mr.  Constable.  The  great  English 
artist,  who  was  then  somewhat  conceited  over  his  success  as  champion  in 
the  present  French  style  of  landscape,  received  the  boy  as  a  boy,  laughed 
at  the  idea  of  his  having  studied  art,  and  even  told  him  there  was  no  one 
in  America  able  to  teach  it.  American  spirit  rebelled,  and  the  boy  replied 
that  he  had  studied  under  a  man  who  could  teach  Mr.  Constable  and  all 
England.  Mr.  Constable  carried  out  his  opinion  by  asserting  that  he  had 
never  even  heard  the  name  of  Allston,  obvious  as  the  lie  was, — for  Mr. 
Allston  was  then  a  member  with  Mr.  Constable  of  the  British  Royal 
Academy, — and  supplemented  his  remarks  by  saying  that  it  would  be 


better  for  art  were  America  under  the  ocean  instead  of  in  it.  Fired  by 
this,  the  boy  left  with  a  resolve  to  show  Mr.  Constable  that  he  knew  some- 
thing of  art,  after  all.  He  seized  upon  a  match-seller  on  the  way  to  his 
hotel  ;  and  the  result,  "The  Match-Girl,"  now  in  the  New-York  Historical 
Rooms,  proved  in  many  respects  the  masterpiece  of  the  artist's  life.  Several 
in  London  endeavored  to  purchase  it ;  but,  though  it  could  not  be  sold,  it 
brought  the  artist  orders  for  the  portraits  of  George  Wilds  and  many 
others.  He  remained  abroad  but  nine  months,  in  which  time  he  painted 
with  Mr.  Healy  from  live  models  in  Paris,  and  the  old  masters  in  Italy. 
When  eighteen,  he  was  again  established  in  New  Haven.  Among  other 
orders  he  received  was  one  for  the  family  of  Mr.  Sheffield,  donor  of  the 
Scientific  School  to  Yale  College,  who  paid  him  two  hundred  dollars 


GEORGE  W.  FLAGG. 


George  W.  Flagg. 


93 


above  his  bill,  as  expression  of  his  satisfaction.  Two  years  later  he 
painted  the  portrait  of  Dr.  Channing  of  Boston,  which  is  pronounced  the 
best  portrait  of  his  life.  At  this  time  he  was  elected  an  associate  of  the 
National  Academy,  and  in  1851  an  academician.  He  spent  four  years  in 
New  York,  and  returned  to  New  Haven  to  paint  the  Landing  of  the  Pil- 
grims "  for  James  Brewster,  followed  by  the  Landing  of  the  Atlantic 
Cable,"  "The  Good  Samaritan,"  and  others.    He  married  when  thirty- 


"  HESTER  PRYNNE."  —  BY  GEORGE  W.  FLAGG. 


five,  and  again  removed  to  New  York.  During  the  Rebellion  he  painted 
and  studied  in  London,  and,  returning,  remained  for  a  year  in  New  Haven  ; 
since  which  time  he  has  resided  in  New  York.  Among  the  complimentary 
achievements  of  his  life  is  the  securing  of  Fanny  Kemble  as  a  sitter. 
She  came  the  first  time  in  a  terrific  snow-storm,  saying  she  had  never 
broken  an  engagement  in  her  life.  She  gave  as  her  reason  for  never 
allowing  her  pictures  to  become  public  property,  that  she  was  ashamed  of 


94 


Art  and  Artists  in  Connecticut. 


her  homely  mouth  ;  to  which  the  artist  gallantly  replied,  that  Nature  had 
doubtless  left  it  unfinished,  knowing  that  she  could  perfect  the  work  the 
best. 

EDWIN  WHITE. 

The  artist  Edwin  White,  a  popular  genre  and  historical  painter,  de- 
scended from  Elder  John  White,  one  of  the  first  settlers  on  the  Connecti- 
cut River,  just  above  Hartford,  was  born  in  South  Hadley,  Mass.,  May 
21,  1 8 17.  His  early  life  was  a  gallant  struggle  to  obtain  a  sound  education 
in  art.  When  eighteen  years  old  he  painted  for  one  summer  in  Long- 
meadow  ;  coming  to  Hartford  in  the  fall,  and  entering  the  studio  of  Mr. 
Hewins  as  pupil  in  portraiture.    He  made  rapid  progress,  and  in  a  few 


"the  evening-hymn  of  the  hugl/ENot  refugees." 


months  received  a  commission  to  paint  an  original  Madonna  in  Norwalk, 
Conn.  This  was  followed  by  others  for  portraits  ;  and  from  there  he  was 
induced  to  go  to  Bridgeport,  where  he  opened  a  studio.  His  success  was 
flattering  ;  but,  as  his  critical  eye  became  educated,  he  was  convinced  that 
he  yet  lacked  much.  He  married  in  1841,  and,  moving  at  once  to  New 
York,  placed  himself  under  Professor  Smith  in  practical  perspective ; 
attending  also  lectures  in  the  Medical  College  to  gain  a  knowledge  of 


Richard  William  Hubbard, 


95 


anatomy,  and  studying  in  the  antique  and  life  schools  at  the  National 
Academy.    In  1849  made  an  academician,  and  in  1850  sailed  for 

Europe,  where,  in  Paris,  Diisseldorf,  and  Florence,  he  pursued  a  most 
thorough  course  of  study.  Returning  in  1856,  he  spent  the  summer  in 
Lakeville,  Conn. ;  while  there,  receiving  the  degree  of  A.M.  from  Amherst. 
In  the  fall  he  went  again  to  Paris.  After  an  exceedingly  happy  life,  in 
which  he  had  established  a  character  of  the  purest  and  noblest  stamp,  and 
a  rank  in  art  that  was  very  high,  he  returned  to  America  in  declining 
health,  of  which  he  wrote,  It  is  the  first  cross  of  my  life,"  and  died  at 
Saratoga  June  7,  1877. 

His  first  attempt  at  ideal  composition  was  ''An  Evening  at  Home," 
a  candle-light  scene  ;  his  second,  Country  Courtship,"  now  in  possession 
of  Professor  Weir  of  Yale  College,  —  a  charming  little  picture,  for  which 
his  wife  and  Charles  Weir  were  models.  It  is  a  firelight-scene,  well 
painted,  and,  in  point  of  ability,  indicative  of  the  talent  displayed  in  later 
life.  They  were  painted  in  Bridgeport,  exhibited  at  the  National  Academy, 
and  bought  by  the  Art  Union.  A  large  picture,  "  Signing  of  the  Compact 
on  'The  Mayflower,'"  is  in  the  Yale  Gallery.  But  the  artist's  peculiari- 
ties of  character  gave  greater  excellence  to  his  o^enre-wovk. 

RICHARD  WILLIAM  HUBBARD. 

The  President  of  the  Brooklyn  Art  Association,  R.  W.  Hubbard,  born 
in  Middletown,  Conn.,  1817,  has  attained  a  most  favorable  reputation 
among  the  artists  of  America,  as  one  breathing  the  atmosphere,  both  by 
nature,  inheritance,  and  education,  of  the  highest,  truest  art.  His  life 
and  work  are  of  the  still  waters,  running  deep,  that  "  many  admire,  but 
few  may  fully  penetrate,"  as  one  realizes  in  studying  the  charming  quiet 
of  his  paintings,  bearing  the  imprint  of  Nature's  truth  in  the  unostenta- 
tious delicacy  and  refinement  characteristic  of  Nature,  but  not  charac- 
teristic of  the  majority  of  works  of  art. 

The  grandfather  of  the  artist,  after  honorably  serving  in  the  Revolu- 
tionary war  as  Quartermaster-General  of  Connecticut,  entered  the  West- 
India  trade,  establishing  himself  in  Middletown.  His  father,  after  several 
years  as  shipping-merchant  in  New  York,  returned  to  his  native  city  to 
become  cashier  of  the  Middletown  Bank,  founded  by  Col.  Hubbard ;  which 
position  he  held  through  life.  From  his  mother,  who  died  when  he  was 
but  eighteen  months  old,  Mr.  Hubbard  received  that  delicacy  of  taste,  and 
love  of  nature,  which  characterize  him,  and  which  were  happily  fostered 
by  an  aunt,  who  became  his  second  mother,  bringing  with  her  from  the 
Moravian  school  at  Bethlehem,  where  she  was  educated,  a  refined  and 


9^  Art  and  Artists  in  Connecticut. 

earnest  sympathy  for  all  pertaining  to  the  fine  arts.  Her  home  was  to 
him  a  veritable  school  of  design,  exerting  a  constant,  quiet,  but  powerful 
influence  in  favor  of  the  truest  and  best  in  art  and  literature. 

After  preparing  in  private  and  boarding  schools,  Mr.  Hubbard  entered 
Yale  College  in  1837.    The  love  of  art,  however,  overruled  the  love  of 


AN  ORIGINAL  SKETCH.  —  BY  RICHARD  W.  HUBBARD. 


Study  ;  and  after  receiving  a  classical  education,  that  has  been  a  source  of 
endless  enjoyment  to  him,  he  left  Yale  in  1839  to  enter  the  field  in  which, 
thus  far,  his  life  has  been  passed  so  acceptably  and  beneficially  to  others. 
After  a  course  of  study  from  the  antique  at  the  National  Academy,  he 
applied  for  admission  as  pupil  to  the  studio  of  Professor  Morse.  It  did 
not  at  first  appear  convenient  for  Mr.  Morse  to  comply  with  this  request ; 


Richard  William  Hubbard, 


97 


and  he  advised  an  application  to  Mr.  Allston,  then  at  his  home  in  Cam- 
bridge. To  this  Mr.  Allston  replied  through  a  long  and  friendly  letter, 
which  Mr.  Hubbard  still  preserves,  filled  with  advice  excellently  fitted  for 
a  young  aspirant,  closing  by  once  more  referring  him  to  Professor  Morse. 
To  this  second  appeal  Mr.  Morse  yielded  ;  and  Mr.  Hubbard,  established 
in  a  studio  opposite  his  instructor's,  became  not  only  the  pupil,  but  the 
intimate  friend,  of  the  great  man.    Mr.  Hubbard's  first  bold  step  in  art 


AN  ORIGINAL  SKETCH. — BY  RICHARD  W.  HUBBARD. 


was  taken  at  this  time  in  painting  from  his  studio-window  the  view  of 
Washington  Park.  In  1840  the  youn^  artist  sailed  for  Europe,  giving  the 
careful  study  of  an  honest,  determined  ambition  to  the  works  of  European 
masters  ;  forming  in  detail,  and  still  retaining,  an  especially  warm  appre- 
ciation for  the  work  of  Claude  Lorraine.  Returning  to  America,  he  began 
a  course  of  study  under  Daniel  Huntington.  Though  in  portraiture  the 
artist  obtained  for  himself  a  careful  and  thorough  education,  natural  inch- 


98 


Art  and  Artists  in  Connecticut, 


nation  led  him  at  once  and  finally  to  the  adoption  of  landscape-painting 
for  his  life's  labor;  and,  removing  altogether  from  Middletown  in  1850, 
he  established  himself  as  a  landscape-painter  in  New-York  City,  where  he 
has  since  remained.  From  his  position  in  art  and  society,  he  has  of  course 
lived  upon  terms  of  the  most  mutually  profitable  intimacy  with  the  artists 
Huntington,  Kensett,  Gifford,  Church,  Hicks,  Casilear,  and  many  others, 
among  whom  are  many  justly  the  pride  of  Connecticut  as  well.  He  was 
elected  an  academician  of  the  National  Academy  of  Design  in  1858.  Of 
the  Artists'  Fund  Society,  founded  in  1859,  he  was  one  of  the  incorpo- 
rators, and  was  at  about  the  same  time  elected  a  member  of  the  Century 
Club. 

In  matters  of  art  Mr.  Hubbard  is  of  the  very  broadest  church,  —  a  vital 
catholic  ;  and  although  from  the  beginning  of  his  study  of  color  in  nature 
as  minute  as  a  Pre-Raphaelite,  yet  throughout  vividly  appreciative  of  tone 
and  color,  space  and  light.  In  fact,  one  of  the  sweetest  features  of  the 
artist's  work  is  the  rare  effect  of  his  chiaroscuro.  Nature's  most  charm- 
ing aspects  are  not  those  in  which  she  is  most  lavish  of  her  light.  Only 
the  most  passionate  and  earnest  lover  of  nature  among  artists  discovers 
this  in  his  work  ;  but,  when  discovered,  the  secret  charm  enhances  all. 
That  particular  phase  of  nature  which  has  most  influenced  Mr.  Hubbard 
in  his  work  is  what  is  known  in  art  as  the  silvery  light,  in  which  this  charm 
appears,  as  nowhere  else,  in  its  full  delicacy  and  strength  and  loveliness. 
It  is  noticeable  in  days  when  the  sunlight  softens  the  decided  blue  of  the 
sky  into  a  tender,  luminous  gray,  involving  the  distances  in  the  same 
charming  atmosphere,  and  giving  its  full  value  in  color  to  every  leaf  and 
blade  of  grass.  In  such  a  sky  are  clouds  large  and  small,  of  infinitely 
varied  form,  more  or  less  lightened  and  pervaded  by  the  sun,  and  capable 
of  immense  range,  from  the  dark  storm-cloud  to  the  graceful  little  islets 
quietly  anchored  in  the  ocean  of  light.  Here  is  a  phase  of  nature  that 
for  ages  has  tasked  the  best  abilities  of  artists,  and  that  still  retains 
resources  of  subtleties  and  difficulties  amply  sufficient  to  mock  the  best 
efforts  of  those  who  are  yet  to  come.  Thirty-six  years  ago,  Mr.  Hub- 
bard's attention  was  first  absorbed  in  the  beauty  of  the  silver  sky ;  and 
since  that  time  his  efforts  to  catch  it  upon  canvas  have  been  crowned 
with  a  success  that  will  make  his  name  as  enduring  as  his  work.  His 
paintings  are  gems  of  quiet  beauty,  upon  which  the  highest  encomiums 
pronounced  have  been  those  coming  from  other  artists,  which  artists 
m.ost  appreciate.  There  is  little  in  them  intended  to  produce  a  startling 
effect ;  no  eccentricity  with  which  one  must  become  acquainted  to  admire 
the  whole.  They  touch  a  reverberating  sympathy  in  every  honest  breast ; 
while  the  remarkable  harmony  in  tone,  fidelity  to  truth,  and  unaffected 


John  F.  Kensett.  99 

simplicity,  must  always  win  for  them  the  favor  of  the  most  critical.  These 
paintings  are  the  result  of  slow  and  careful  elaboration ;  and  it  is  of  notice- 
able interest,  that  two  pieces,  prepared  for  the  New-York-Academy  Exhi- 
bition of  1878,  were  by  many  careful  observers  pronounced  the  best  works 
of  Mr.  Hubbard's  life. 

As  a  man,  the  artist  thoroughly  partakes  of  the  tenor  of  his  work. 
Connecticut  proudly  claims  him  as  her  son. 

JOHN  F.  KENSETT. 

The  father  of  one  of  the  greatest,  though  perhaps  not  among  the  most 
prominent  artists  in  America,  came  to  this  country  from  England  in  181 2. 
He  had  been  a  distinguished  engraver  of  Hampton  Court.  His  son,  John 
F.  Kensett,  born  in  Cheshire,  Conn.,  March  22,  1818,  learned  after  him 
the  engraver's  trade,  completing  his  study  under  his  uncle  Alfred  Daggett 
of  New  Haven,  his  mother  being  grand-daughter  of  President  Daggett  of 
Yale  College.  At  that  early  age  he  was  considered  such  a  proficient 
workman,  that  he  was  immediately  secured  by  the  American  Bank-Note 
Company,  and  moved  to  New  York. 

The  inspiration  of  art  was  not  satisfied.  Kensett  was  an  intimate 
friend  of  Rossiter  and  several  other  artists,  and  in  their  studios  he  began 
with  experiments  destined  finally  to  resolve  into  an  almost  unexcelled 
victory.  In  a  little  over  two  years  he  left  for  Europe  to  see  and  study  art 
in  company  with  Messrs.  Durand,  Casilear,  and  Rossiter.  It  opened  a 
new  world  to  him.  He  carefully  studied  English  landscape  and  French 
and  German  art  with  Henry  Champney,  and  walked  through  Switzerland 
with  George  W.  Curtis  and  a  small  party,  making  the  most  of  every 
opportunity.    They  reached  Rome  in  November,  1845.  that  time 

there  were  in  Rome,  among  the  resident  American  artists,  Thomas  Craw- 
ford, Luther  Terry,  and  H.  K.  Brown  ;  among  the  students,  George  Baker, 
E.  Terry,  Thomas  Hicks,  T.  McClurg,  and  Stevenson  the  sculptor. 
William  Story,  C.  Perkins,  George  Curtis,  and  others,  were  also  living  in 
Rome  at  the  time.  Leutze  had  just  left  for  America.  In  this  inspiring 
society  Mr.  Kensett  began  his  study  of  art  in  Rome  with  full  vigor  and 
enthusiasm.  His  first  annoyance  was  in  the  non-appearance  of  his 
baggage,  which  he  had  sent  before  him,  but  which  did  not  appear  for  over 
two  months.  He  was  not  travelling  with  a  purse  capable  of  overcoming 
any  and  all  obstacles  at  that  early  day  in  his  afterward  brilliant  career, 
and  experienced  no  little  inconvenience  in  stretching  out  the  endurance 
of  the  old  clothes  till  they  should  be  relieved  by  the  recruits  already 
enlisted,  but  slow  to  appear.    The  next  difficulty  lay  in  a  severe  attack  of 


lOO 


Ai^t  and  Artists  in  Connecticut, 


inflammatory  rheumatism,  that  prostrated  him  for  several  weeks  during 
his  first  winter.  He  found  a  valuable  friend  in  Thomas  Hicks,  however ; 
rooming,  eating,  working  with  him  through  his  entire  life  in  Rome  ;  know- 
ing him,  doubtless,  as  the  same  warm-hearted,  true-hearted  man  that  he 
is  to-day. 

In  June  Mr.  Kensett,  in  a  party  of  four  artists,  —  Messrs.  Hicks, 
Boujac,  and  S.  A.  Smith, — went  on  a  summer's  sketching  trip  through 
South  Italy.  On  the  ist  of  August,  reaching  an  isolated  village  where 
they  proposed  stopping  a  fortnight,  they  sent  back  their  donkeys,  cutting 
off  their  only  mode  of  retreat,  and,  the  inn  being  closed  for  want  of  custom, 
rented  the  upper  story  of  the  largest,  cleanest  house  in  town ;  but  were 
driven  sleepless  from  their  beds  by  hosts  of  the  little  bed-lovers  of  Southern 
Italy.  In  the  morning  they  found  every  inhabitant  of  the  place  anxious  to 
rob  them  of  any  thing  or  every  thing.  While  two  stood  guard,  two  hunted 
for  donkeys  to  take  them  away.  Succeeding  at  last,  they  were  literally 
stoned  from  the  village  by  the  inhabitants,  angry  at  the  loss  of  their 
expected  profits.  After  all,  they  had  one  package  stolen.  This,  proving 
to  possess  nothing  of  value,  was  returned  in  a  few  days  with  a  humble 
request  for  a  reward.  At  their  next  start  the  driver  failed  to  furnish  the 
baggage-mule  engaged.  They  i:>r()teste(l  in  vain  ;  but,  as  they  were  about 
to  start,  the  driver's  wife  api:)eared,  and  on  her  head  and  shoulders  took 
the  entire  baggage  of  the  company,  trudging  on  with  the  otJicr  mules, 
while  her  husband  with  a  long  whip  walked  behind  to  keep  his  caravan  in 
motion.  It  was  one  of  the  rare  instances  in  Mr.  Kensett's  life  when  he 
thoroughly  lost  his  temper.  They  returned  to  Rome  in  October,  1846; 
and  Mr.  Kensett  continued  his  study  with  most  satisfactory  and  produc- 
tive diligence  until  August,  1847,  ^v^ic^n  he  left  for  Venice  for  a  month; 
thence  through  Germany  again  with  Mr.  Curtis,  and  back  to  America, 
where  he  established  himself  in  New  York. 

When  he  reached  Rome,  as  an  artist  he  was  in  an  unfortunate  plight. 
He  had  studied  the  French  styles,  and  copied  them.  He  had  studied  the 
German  styles,  and  copied  them.  He  had  given  up  his  own  originality 
altogether  ;  and  his  work  was  a  complete  mannerism,  the  French  and  Ger- 
man schools  jumbled.  Discovering  his  error,  his  study  in  Rome  became, 
not  one  of  Roman  art,  but  of  individuality,  which  should  embrace  the 
virtues  of  all,  yet  express  the  characteristics  of  none.  This  individuality 
is  the  charm  of  all  of  his  later  work. 

In  Rome  Mr.  Kensett  was  very  poor,  and,  in  the  results  of  his  career 
from  beginning  to  end,  is  a  wonderful  example  of  the  possibilities  before 
an  artist.  He  left  six  hundred  studies,  sketches,  and  finished  pictures,  in 
his  studio,  when  he  died  ;  and  being  sold  at  auction  in  March,  1873,  they 


John  F.  Kensett. 


lOl 


brought  over  a  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars  to  add  to  an  already 
ample  fortune,  which,  being  a  bachelor,  he  left  unreservedly  to  his  mother. 
It  was  the  most  remarkable  sale  upon  record  in  America.  It  was  held  in 
the  large  hall  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  Building,  New- 
York  City,  and  occupied  six  evenings.  J.  F.  Kensett  possessed  in  Mr.  Oli- 
phant  a  valuable  and  life-long  friend,  to  whom  and  Vincent  Colyer  is  due, 
in  some  degree,  the  success  of  the  auction.  His  best  two  pictures,  the 
Genesee  River  "  and  Lake  George,"  were  purchased  by  the  Corcoran 
Gallery,  in  opposition  to  David  Dows  of  New  York,  owner  of  "The  Heart 
of  the  Andes,"  —  as  great  a  compliment  as  could  well  have  been  bestowed 
upon  their  worth.  The  price  paid  (six  thousand  dollars)  has  in  a  few  in- 
stances been  exceeded  in  America ;  but  the  state  of  the  times,  and  the 
value  of  money  comparatively,  render  them  almost  the  highest  original- 
cost  pictures  of  American  painting. 

John  F.  Kensett  was  noted  through  art-circles  as  the  beginner's  friend. 
The  struggles  against  poverty  in  his  early  life  gave  him  a  keen  apprecia- 
tion of  how  early  struggles  might  be  relieved.  He  was  a  short,  plethoric 
man,  remarkably  even  in  temperament,  and  quiet  in  manner.  As  a  conse- 
quence, he  was  one  of  the  most  popular  artists  of  the  country,  so  far  as  he 
was  truly  known.  He  said  but  little ;  but  his  influence  was  widely  felt. 
He  was,  if  a  fault  were  visible,  over-conscientious  with  his  own  work,  and 
over-charitable  with  the  work  of  others.  "  He  was  foremost  in  every  thing 
charitable,  and  an  efficient  laborer.  He  was  among  the  first  supporters  of 
the  Artists'  Fund,  of  which  he  was  for  some  time  president.  Many  an 
artist  gaining  prominence  and  fame  to-day  remembers  with  affection  a 
word  or  an  act  of  encouragement  from  him  at  a  time  when  it  may  have 
been  much  needed.  A  single  example  will  suffice.  Learning  that  an 
artist  struggling  against  many  obstacles  had  reached  a  chasm  that  threat- 
ened seriously  to  interrupt  his  progress  unless  bridged  for  him  in  some 
way  by  a  helping  hand,  he  carelessly  entered  the  studio,  making  comments 
in  his  happy  style  upon  the  merits  and  demerits  of  the  young  man's  work. 
He  praised  a  nearly  completed  canvas,  and  offered  the  painter  three 
hundred  dollars  for  it.  The  bridge  was  instantly  constructed,  and  the  pic- 
ture finished  with  a  zest  that  made  a  far  better  work  of  it  than  it  could 
otherwise  have  been. 

As  an  artist,  Mr.  Kensett  was  doubtless  superior  to  many  whose 
reputation  stood  higher  than  his  own.  His  Morning  on  the  Lake,"  for 
instance,  is  imbued  with  a  poetic  feeling  and  quiet  beauty,  for  the  proper 
conveyance  of  which  words  are  altogether  an  inadequate  vehicle.  Char- 
acteristically, his  works  could  find  expression  only  in  themselves.  If 
there  were  a  mannerism,  it  was  such  a  charming  manner  as  to  be  forgot- 


I02 


Art  and  Artists  in  Connecticut. 


ten  even  by  the  critics.  They  are  replete  with  a  style  of  beauty  possessed 
by  few  other  paintings.  In  1848  they  won  for  the  author  election  as  an 
academician.  He  has  been  particularly  lauded  by  the  pre-Raphaelites 
for  the  literal  minuteness  in  his  work  upon  mosses,  rocky  ledges,  dripping 
stones,  and  mouldy  lichens,  almost  after  the  Flemish  painters. 

During  the  riots  in  New  York,  Mr.  Kensett  proved  himself  as  bold 
in  action  as  in  art.  He  returned  to  Connecticut  for  the  last  summer  of 
his  life,  having  with  Vincent  Colyer  purchased  a  part  of  Contentment 
Island,  a  mile  from  Daricn.  Mr.  Colyer's  wife  was  drowned  in  the  fall ; 
and  Mr.  Kensett,  in  expending  every  possible  energy  to  recover  the  body, 
contracted  a  severe  cold,  which  terminated  in  an  attack  of  pneumonia. 
He  had  apparently  recovered  from  this,  and  had  already  walked  out,  when 
on  Saturday  noon  a  servant  came  to  his  studio-door  in  the  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association  Building,  New-York  City,  and  asked  if  his  lunch 
should  be  brought  up.  He  answered  "Yes,"  and  went  on  with  his  work. 
Returning  with  the  lunch,  the  servant  found  him  sitting  on  a  sofa,  dead, 
Dec.  14,  1872.  The  body  was  first  placed  in  the  Second-street  vault,  and 
afterward  removed  to  Greenwood. 

JOHN  DURRIE. 

In  1 8 18  John  Durrie  was  born  in  Hartford.  He  and  a  younger 
brother,  George  H.  Durrie,  entered  the  field  of  art  together,  beginning 
study  under  Nathaniel  Jocelyn  in  New  Haven.  John  Durrie  turned  his 
attention  at  once  to  portraiture  and  still-life,  to  which  branches  he  has 
given  his  chief  exertions,  fulfilling  the  sanguine  hopes  of  many  friends. 
He  has  passed  most  of  his  life,  thus  far,  in  New  Haven,  and  in  the  course 
of  it  has  also  produced  some  very  acceptable  landscapes.  He  has  all  his 
life  been  an  ardent  devotee,  but  not  an  enthusiast  in  art,  which  his  work 
indicates. 

THOMAS  p.  ROSSITER. 

A  singular  composition,  making  up  an  artist  of  high  rank,  born  in 
New  Haven  Sept.  29,  1818,  appeared  in  the  person  of  Thomas  P.  Ros- 
siter.  As  a  lad  he  was  taken  to  Winsted,  and  apprenticed  to  a  Mr.  Boyd ; 
but  at  eighteen  he  appeared  in  Mr.  Jocelyn's  studio,  saying  he  intended  to 
make  an  artist  of  himself,  and  wanted  help.  For  two  years  he  studied 
there,  then  opened  a  studio  of  his  own,  as  portrait,  figure,  landscape,  and, 
indeed,  every  kind  of  a  painter.  In  two  years  he  sailed  for  Europe  with 
Messrs.  Durand,  Kensett,  and  Casilear.  He  enjoyed  abroad  the  very  great 
privilege  of  sketching  through  Switzerland  with  Thomas  Cole,  and  a 


Frederic  Stiles  Jewett. 


life  of  five  years  in  Italy.  In  185 1  he  opened  a  studio  in  New  York. 
Two  years  later  he  again  went  abroad,  returning  in  1856,  when  he  began 
work  upon  "The  Merchant  Princes  of  America"  on  an  order  from  William 
Wright,  spoken  of  elsewhere.  His  collection  (due  to  his  characteristic 
impetuosity)  was  the  only  one  of  the  four  ever  finished,  and  now  hangs 
in  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  Rooms,  New  York.  In  i860 
he  purchased  and  moved  into  a  beautiful  villa  opposite  West  Point,  where 
he  died  at  the  age  of  fifty,  five  years  before  his  life-friend  Kensett. 

As  an  artist  Mr.  Rossiter  was  not  a  complete  success,  nor  yet  by  any 
means  a  failure.  He  had  much  ability  in  color,  and  ready  skill  in  catching 
a  likeness.  But  in  drawing  he  was  more  deficient.  Many  of  his  larger 
pictures  he  sent  about  the  country  on  exhibition  :  in  fact,  his  success 
was  partially  due  to  the  energy  with  which  he  kept  himself  before  the 
public.  In  1840  he  was  recognized  by  the  National  Academy  as  an 
associate,  and  in  1849  i^ade  an  academician.  He  certainly  played  an 
important  part  in  his  department.  His  pictures  were  generally  large,  and 
in  gay  colors,  but,  instead  of  improving,  bore  more  evidence  of  careless- 
ness, toward  the  end  of  his  life.  He  doubtless  had  great  talent, — too 
great,  perhaps  ;  at  least,  an  energy  that  drove  his  ability  beyond  its  power, 
to  speak  literally.  His  smaller  pictures  are,  many  of  them,  exquisite 
gems  ;  but  the  larger  ones  are  invariably  confused.  The  number  of  sacred 
and  historical  subjects  which  he  treated  on  large  canvases  is  simply 
amazing.  It  is  absolutely  impossible  that  they  did  him  even  a  meagre 
jiistice.  An  applicable  criticism  comes  to  mind  in  an  anecdote  equally 
characteristic  of  both  parties.  Rossiter  asked  Kensett  to  criticise  an 
immense  landscape ;  and,  to  counterbalance  the  fault  found  with  it,  Rossi- 
ter explained,  But  you  must  remember,  the  whole  thing  was  painted  in 
a  single  day  ;  "  when  Kensett  quietly  asked,  "  Why  didn't  you  take  two  t " 
Had  Rossiter  taken  two  days  for  one  in  his  larger  works,  the  world  would 
have  known  him  to-day  as  a  master  among  American  artists.  He  was 
social,  generous,  remarkably  handsome,  and  talented  in  literature  as  well 
as  art.  He  died  suddenly  at  his  home  on  the  Hudson,  leaving,  be- 
sides his  paintings,  an  unpublished  but  exceedingly  interesting  work  on 
the  legends  of  the  Catskills. 


FREDERIC  STILES  JEWETT. 

The  marine-painter  F.  S.  Jewett  was  born  in  Simsbury,  Conn.,  Feb. 
26,  1 8 19.  When  sixteen  he  entered  a  whaler,  on  which  he  passed  two  years 
before  the  mast,  in  the  South-Pacific  and  Indian  Oceans.  Returning,  he 
began  a  literary  life ;  moving  to  the  West  Indies  when  twenty-two,  where 


I04 


Art  and  Artists  hi  Co7iiiecticMt. 


he  married.  In  various  capacities  he  proved  himself  an  excellent  writer. 
Only  the  last  seven  years  of  his  life  were  devoted  entirely  to  art.  He 
visited  Europe,  and  studied  under  the  best  French  and  English  teachers. 
He  was  strictly  a  marine-painter ;  and  his  work  had  the  merit  of  faithful- 
ness often  wanting  in  the  marine-painting  of  the  day,  he  having  known 
the  sea  as  a  sailor  before  knowing  it  as  an  artist.  Wide  experience  had 
made  him  a  good  judge  of  men,  and  during  his  art-life  he  entered  warmly 
into  politics  in  Connecticut.  Artist-life,  however,  was  not  an  after- 
thought, but  had  been  foreshadowed  in  the  schoolboy's  propensity  for 
picture-making,  and  an  acknowledged  ambition,  while  other  things  pre- 
vented its  fulfilment.  Much  of  his  time  while  connected  with  the  city 
government  of  Hartford  was  occupied  in  designing  for  and  making  Bush- 
nell  Park.  Mr.  Jewctt  died  in  Cleveland,  O.,  Dec.  26,  1864,  a  growing 
man  in  art,  with  remarkable  talent.  He  imitated  Turner,  possessing  a 
strong  admiration  for  him  ;  but  this  did  not  prevent  a  visible  originality. 
One  of  his  best  pieces  hangs  in  the  Wadsworth  Athenxum. 


The  well-known  author  and  artist  Charles  Lanman  cannot  well  be 
omitted  in  a  history  of  art  in  Connecticut ;  for,  though  born  in  Michigan 


(June  14,  1819),  his  father  Charles  James,  and  grandfather  James  Lanman, 
were  men  of  mark  in  Norwich,  Conn.    He  received  his  education  at  the 


CHARLES  LANMAN. 


CHARLES  LANMAN. 


Charles  Lanman. 


Plainfield  Academy  and  in  Norwich,  where  his  sister  'still  resides,  and 
where,  for  a  long  time,  was  the  home  of  his  family.  In  1835  he  became 
clerk  in  an  East-India  house  in  New  York,  and  while  in  that  capacity 
commenced  the  study  of  art.  In  1845  he  began  his  life  as  a  writer,  being 
successively  connected  in  editorial  capacity  with  several  of  the  leading 
journals  of  the  day,  still  continuing  his  art-work.  He  was  one  of  the  first 
writers  in  New  York  to  devote  elaborate  attention  to  home  art.  This  was 
so  happily  appreciated,  that,  in  return,  Mr.  Lanman's  walls  were  decorated 
with  gifts  from  many  of  the  leading  artists.  He  has  visited  in  sketching- 
trips  every  State  east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  was  the  first  to 


"a  deserted  house."  —  BY  CHARLES  LANMAN. 


produce  upon  canvas  the  beauties  of  many  locations  now  frequented  by 
artists.  Many  of  these  sketches  have  since  been  published  in  "  The 
London  Illustrated  News  "  and  American  magazines,  as  well  as  in  his 
own  volumes.  He  has  held  many  posts  of  literary  honor  under  the 
government,  and  was  private  secretary  to  Daniel  Webster.  He  has  also 
been  American  correspondent  for  The  London  Illustrated  News  "  and 
London  Athenaeum."  As  an  author  Mr.  Lanman's  reputation  is  well 
known.  His  works  of  history,  geography,  biography,  adventure,  &c., 
have  had  extensive  circulation,  and  many  have  been  republished  in 
England.     Also   soon   forthcoming   are  three  works,  —    Hap -hazard 


io6 


Art  and  Artists  in  Connecticut, 


Personalities,"  "Novelties  of  American  Character,"  and  "Evenings  in 
My  Library,"  —  in  all  of  which  he  has  gathered  much  interesting  art- 
matter. 

In  1847  he  was  elected  an  associate  of  the  National  Academy.  Never 
having  devoted  more  than  leisure  time  to  art,  he  has  learned  to  work 
rapidly.  His  last  and  largest  picture,  five  feet  long,  a  "View  of  Fieziyama, 
Japan,"  was  painted  in  two  weeks,  before  breakfast.  It  was  purchased 
by  the  Japanese  Government.  Miss  Caulkins's  "  History  of  Norwich  " 
was  illustrated  by  Mr.  Lanman.  In  1871  he  was  appointed  American 
secretary  of  the  Japanese  Legation  in  Washington  ;  which  position  he  still 
occupies,  residing  in  Georgetown,  D.C. 

EDWARD  W.  NICHOLS, 

A  New-Hampshire  lawyer,  born  in  Orford  April  23,  18 19,  preferring 
art  to  law,  changed  his  profession  ;  and  after  studying  landscape-painting 
in  New  York  with  Cropsey  in  1848,  and  abroad  in  1853,  he  sketched  and 
painted  to  some  extent  about  Hartford,  where  he  married.  He  died  in 
Peekskill,  on  the  Hudson,  Sept.  20,  1871.  E.  W.  Wells  of  Hartford  has 
several  of  his  pictures.    They  arc  full  of  feeling,  and  well  executed. 

JAKED   B.  FLAGG. 

The  third  artist-son  of  Mayor  Flagg  of  New  Haven,  Jared  B.  Flagg, 
was  born  in  that  city  in  1820.  The  oldest  son,  though  practising  art,  was 
in  the  naval  service.  The  second,  George  W.,  the  mayor  had  been  unable 
to  restrain  from  art ;  but,  having  a  financially  low  opinion  of  the  profession, 
he  facetiously  remarked  that  "one  vagabond  in  a  family  was  enough," 
and  to  prevent  another,  so  soon  as  Jared  appeared  discontented  with 
school-life,  placed  him  as  clerk  in  a  store.  It  was  not  long,  however, 
before  the  drudgery  became  irksome,  and  the  boy  insisted  upon  studying 
art  under  his  brother.  Six  months  later  he  went  with  him  upon  his 
second  trip  to  Boston,  where  both  enjoyed  the  advantages  of  association 
with  their  uncle  Washington  Allston.  At  seventeen  Jared  Flagg  began 
independent  portrait-painting,  and  two  years  later  settled  in  Hartford, 
where  he  remained  for  ten  years.  The  portrait  of  Dr.  Robbins,  now  in 
the  Historical  Rooms,  was  painted  at  this  time,  and  those  of  several  of  the 
governors.  A  week  after  opening  his  studio  he  received  an  order  for  the 
portrait  of  Judge  Hitchcock,  that  now  hangs  in  the  Alumni  Hall  at  Yale. 
Shortly  after  settling  in  Hartford  the  artist  married  Miss  Sarah  Montague, 
a  lady  of  rare  beauty,  who  died  two  years  and  six  months  after,  leaving  a  son, 


Jared  B,  Flagg, 


107 


the  present  artist  Montague  Flagg.  This  affliction  resulted  in  a  decision 
on  the  part  of  the  artist  to  enter  the  ministry.  He  received  but  twenty- 
five  dollars  for  pictures  that  to-day  bring  him  five  hundred,  and  hence  was 
obliged  to  devote  incessant  labor  to  his  profession  for  support,  giving  only 
his  evenings  to  study.  When  twenty-eight  he  married  again,  and  moved 
to  Brooklyn,  N.Y.,  where,  in  1849,  the  artist  C.  N.  Flagg  was  born. 
During  his  first  year  in  New  York  he  painted  a  scene  from  Measure  for 
Measure,"  —  ''Angelo  and  Isabella," — which  he  exhibited  at  the  National 
Academy,  and  was  elected  an  academician.  In  1852  he  completed  his 
preparatory  studies,  passed  the  examination  for  the  Episcopal  ministry, 
and  in  1854  was  settled  in  Birmingham,  Conn.    In  nine  months  he 


JARED  B.  FLAGG. 


accepted  an  invitation  to  succeed  Dr.  Vinton  in  Grace  Church,  Brooklyn 
Heights,  where  he  remained  through  the  longest  rectorship  of  the  parish. 
The  ill  health  of  his  wife  necessitated  his  removal ;  when,  after  six  months 
in  Minnesota,  he  again  opened  a  studio  in  New  Haven.  In  1866  Colum- 
bia College  conferred  upon  him  the  degree  of  ''D.D."  In  1861  he 
received  the  A.M."  from  New  Haven.  In  1869  he  married  again,  in 
Paris,  the  daughter  of  Ex-Congressman  Bond,  a  lady  of  many  charming 
qualities.  From  1870  to  1873  he  painted  in  New  Haven,  and,  since  that 
date,  has  resided  in  New  York.  Portraiture  has  been  his  profession,  in 
which  he  has  a  high  reputation.  His  ideal  pieces  express  refine- 
ment,  good   taste,   a  faithful   feeling  for   color,   and   are  invariably 


io8 


Art  and  Artists  in  Connecticut. 


pleasing.  His  constant  occupation  at  present  indicates  a  flattering 
popularity. 

GEORGE  H.  DURRIE. 

A  younger  brother  of  John  Durrie,  George  Henry,  was  born  in  New 
Haven  June  6,  1820.  In  his  favorite  branch,  the  delineation  of  pastoral 
and  snow  scenes,  he  was  among  the  first  painters  of  his  day  in  the 
country.  In  boyhood  he  developed  a  remarkably  frank  and  gentle  dispo- 
sition, which  was  a  characteristic  of  his  life  :  at  the  same  time,  love  of  the 
beautiful,  and  love  of  art,  ai)pcared  very  strongly  fi.xcd  in  his  nature. 
When  twenty-one,  having  studied  for  two  years  with  Mr.  Jocelyn,  he 


GEORGE  H.  DURRIE. 


married  Miss  Sarah  A.  Perkins,  a  most  estimable  lady,  and  opened  a 
studio  in  New  Haven.  With  the  exception  of  a  few  months  very  success- 
fully passed  in  Monmouth  County,  N.J.,  under  the  influential  patronage 
of  Judge  Lawrence,  the  most  of  his  work  was  done  in  New  Haven.  He 
began  with  portrait-painting,  the  legitimate  result  of  his  education,  but 
soon  turned  his  attention  almost  wholly  to  landscape.  He  carefully 
looked  at  nature  ;  and  his  studies  of  rocks,  barks,  lichens,  and  moss,  are  of 
particular  interest,  being  finished  with  the  most  faithful  minuteness.  At 
a  State  fair  in  New  Haven,  some  of  Mr.  Durrie's  work  obtained  the  gold 
medal,  as  the  finest  in  the  art  department.  His  farm-scenes  and  snow- 
scenes  were  by  far  his  best  :  his  groupings  of  animals  were  always  pleasing 


Ralph  I  sham.  —  George  A.  Baker,  109 

and  artistic.  One  of  his  well-executed  works,  "Winter  in  the  Country," 
was  purchased  by  the  Yale  Art  School  after  his  death,  and  is  on  exhibition 
in  the  gallery. 

Mr.  Durrie  died  in  1863,  in  the  growing-time  of  life.    He  was  an 
expert  in  music  as  well  as  art,  and  his  studio  was  a  model  of  grace  and 
refinement.     He  well  earned  for  himself  the  popular  distinction  of  the 
New-England  Farm-scene  Painter." 

RALPH  ISHAM. 

A  portrait  and  landscape  painter,  Ralph  Isham,  born  about  1820,  took 
charge  of  the  Wadsworth  Athenaeum  Gallery  when  it  was  first  opened. 
He  was  of  a  wretchedly  morbid,  dyspeptic  disposition  ;  but  withal  his  work 
displays  much  originality,  force,  and  good  taste.  This  is  the  more  sur- 
prising, as  his  first  instruction  (probably  his  only  instruction)  in  art  came 
through  his  eyes  from  the  pictures  about  him  in  the  gallery.  He  was  an 
intimate  friend  of  Mr.  Church  and  Mr.  Bartholomew ;  and  for  years  an  old 
rock  on  Talcott  Mountain,  near  Hartford,  bore  the  names  of  Church, 
Isham,  Emmons,  and  Bartholomew,  painted  when  the  artists  were  upon 
a  sketching-trip  in  1845.  He  was  naturally  fault-finding  with  all  works  of 
art,  especially  his  own  ;  and  his  nervous  temperament  rendered  it  difficult 
for  him  to  meet  with  satisfactory  success  in  portrait-painting  :  hence  his 
work  is  chiefly  landscape.  One  of  his  pieces  in  the  Wadsworth  Gallery, 
and  another  owned  by  the  late  James  B.  Hosmer  of  Hartford,  are  excep- 
tionally well  drawn,  delicate  in  gradations,  and  with  a  fine,  sensitive, 
aesthetic  taste.  He  was  a  man  of  strong  sentiment  and  religious  faith, 
but  at  one  time  fulfilled  a  vow  not  to  enter  a  church  for  a  year,  explaining 
that  he  found  himself  becoming  so  indifferent  to  the  privilege,  that  he  was 
trying  if  abstinence  would  not  renew  a  proper  enjoyment.  Mr.  Isham 
died  early  in  life,  before  any  of  the  ambitions  and  powers  he  possessed 
were  sufficiently  developed  to  form  a  judgment  upon  them. 

GEORGE  A.  BAKER. 

George  A.  Baker  has  lived  in  Darien  since  1866  in  a  quaint  old  man- 
sion built  in  the  substantial,  liberal  style  of  a  half-century  ago.  As  one 
of  the  most  remarkable  portrait-painters  of  America,  though  born  in  New 
York,  1 82 1,  it  is  but  just  to  the  State  that  we  claim  his  influence,  both 
for  the  present  and  the  future,  upon  her  art-history.  He  was  an  artist 
born  and  bred.  His  father  was  an  artist  before  him,  of  excellent  ideas 
and  exceptional  talents  ;  and,  when  only  sixteen,  he  entered  the  profession 


I  lO 


Art  and  Artists  in  Connecticut, 


as  a  miniature-portrait  painter  so  successfully,  that  during  the  first  year  he 
painted  one  hundred  and  forty  portraits,  receiving  five  dollars  each.  Upon 
this  native  ability  he  has  placed  years  of  patient  study,  which  together  have 
made  the  so  nearly  perfect  artist.  During  seven  years  that  he  painted 
portraits  in  miniature,  he  studied  in  the  antique  and  life  schools  in  the 
National  Academy ;  then  sailed  for  Europe  for  the  purpose  of  perfecting 
himself  in  oil-painting.  A  brief  sketch  of  his  early  achievements  is  con- 
tained in  Mr.  Tuckerman's  book  on  artists.  With  the  exception  of  the 
very  first  of  his  work  in  oil,  he  has  painted  nothing  but  portraits,  often 
having  orders  for  two  years  in  advance.  In  185  i  he  was  made  an  acade- 
mician ;  and  though  a  life-sufferer  from  neuralgia,  and  seriously  interrupted 
by  trouble  with  his  eyes,  the  quantity  of  the  work  he  has  performed,  as 
well  as  its  quality,  is  truly  astonishing.  Two  portraits,  just  completed,  of 
his  wife  and  daughter,  are  by  good  judges  pronounced  the  best  work  of 
his  life.  In  the  painting  of  female  heads,  and  children,  he  is  particularly 
felicitous.  He  is  an  unassuming  gentleman,  of  the  highest  refinement 
and  intelligence  ;  and  partaking  of  this,  perhaps,  his  portraits  of  men  are 
sometimes  criticised  as  lacking  in  masculine  vigor.  He  has  painted  an 
excellent  portrait  of  the  daughter  of  the  late  Joseph  Church  of  Hartford, 
sister  of  the  artist. 

A  well-known  artist  and  writer,  in  a  letter  concerning  Mr.  Baker,  says, 
"  One  secret  of  his  great  success  is  the  concentration  of  all  his  powers 
upon  the  one  specialty  of  portmit-paintijig.  Like  Dore,  the  great  French 
artist,  *■  he  builds  no  villas  ; '  he  never  touches  politics,  philanthropy,  or 
literature.  Art,  and  portrait-painting  the  only  art,  occupies  all  of  his 
working  hours." 

JULIUS  THEODORE  BUSCH. 

Those  interested  in  matters  pertaining  to  art  or  music  in  Hartford 
from  1850  to  i860  will  remember  Mr.  Julius  Busch,  —  a  man  of  unusually 
small  figure,  brown  hair,  and  sandy  beard,  quiet  and  undemonstrative, 
always  following  diligently  the  occupation  of  the  hour.  He  was  born  in 
Dresden,  Germany,  in  1821,  and  received  a  complete  education  in  the 
Dresden  Academy.  He  came  to  Hartford  in  1850,  and  opened  a  studio, 
which  he  occupied  for  eighi  years,  with  the  exception  of  a  trip  which  he 
made  to  Germany  in  1855.  His  forte  was  teaching  ;  and  he  was,  during 
the  last  of  his  life  in  Hartford,  favored  with  many  students  in  drawing, 
besides  teaching  large  classes  in  the  New-Britain  Normal  School,  the 
Hartford  Female  Seminary,  the  Deaf  and  Dumb  Asylum,  and  the  High 
School.  His  knowledge  of  art,  and  his  mastery  of  the  rules  and  laws, 
were  exceptional.    His  criticisms  and  directions  to  pupils  were  always 


Theodore  S.  Sperry, 


III 


clear,  precise,  and  valuable.  His  inimitable  manner  of  giving  these  direc- 
tions can  never  be  forgotten  by  any  who  ever  sat  under  his  instruction. 
Probably  from  want  of  sufficient  time,  his  larger  pictures  fail  of  attaining 
that  excellence  which  his  knowledge  and  judgment  seemed  to  render 
possible.  His  smaller  works  are  better  ;  an  Oriental  scene,  for  instance, 
and  ''An  Indian  Girl  going  over  the  Falls," — an  excellent  bit  of  color. 
His  knowledge  of  art  covered  a  wide  field ;  and  he  has  left  some 
charming  water-colors,  pen-and-ink,  India-ink,  and  crayon  drawings.  An 
enthusiast  in  art,  his  great  success  as  a  teacher  lay  in  imparting  to  the 
pupil  fhe  same  enthusiasm.  Many  of  the  present  artists  whose  names 
do  honor  to  the  history  of  Connecticut's  art  were  pupils  under  Mr. 
Busch. 

He  was  exceedingly  poor  during  the  first  of  his  art-life  in  Hartford, 
but,  by  patient,  unremitting  labor,  won  for  himself  the  respect  and  support 
of  those  about  him.  In  1854  he  married  Miss  Howe  of  Hartford,  a  sister 
of  the  late  E.  G.  Howe. 

Mr.  Busch  was  as  well  informed  in  music  as  in  art,  and  for  several 
years  sang  in  the  choir  of  the  Centre  Church.  By  birth  and  education  he 
was  a  Lutheran  ;  but  sitting  continually  under  the  preaching  of  Dr. 
Hawes  induced  him  to  change  his  views  to  some  extent,  and  he  was  bap- 
tized, and  admitted  to  the  Centre  Church  on  profession  of  faith.  Twice 
he  returned  to  Germany  to  execute  orders  ;  and  when  last  crossing  the 
ocean,  in  1858,  from  Germany,  was  on  board  the  Hamburg  steamer 
Austria,"  burned  and  lost  at  sea. 

THEODORE  S.  SPERRY. 

Dr.  T.  S.  Sperry  was  born  in  Bozrahville,  Conn.,  1822.  His  father 
was  a  physician  ;  and  he  followed  his  profession,  graduating  in  Boston. 
He  was  at  one  time  professor  of  surgery  and  botany  in  the  New-York 
Metropolitan  College.  Ever  an  ardent  lover  of  art,  in  1844  he  made  his 
first  attempt  in  the  use  of  colors,  and  with  such  success,  that  at  first  his 
leisure  time,  and  later  in  life  nearly  all  of  his  time,  was  devoted  to  paint- 
ing. Landscape  was  the  branch  to  which  he  devoted  the  most  of  his  en- 
ergy ;  and  his  scenes  from  about  the  Connecticut  Valley,  and  picturesque 
landscapes  in  the  neighborhood  of  Hartford,  where  he  resided,  invariably 
possessed  a  pleasing  freshness,  indicative  of  a  sympathy  with  nature  very 
commendable.  Dr.  Sperry  met  with  his  death  in  a  very  unfortunate 
manner  while  completing  some  scenery-work  in  Allyn  Hall  left  undone 
by  the  death  of  E.  Paul  Barnes.  He  stepped  backward  to  examine  his 
work,  and  fell  through  a  trap  nearly  sixty  feet  to  the  stage  below. 


112 


Art  and  Artists  in  Connecticut, 


EDWARD  SHEFFIELD  BARTHOLOMEW. 

The  most  tragic,  most  heroic,  most  victorious,  and  at  once  most  unsat- 
isfactory life  that  artist  ever  lived  was  perhaps  the  life  of  Edward  Bar- 
tholomew. He  was  born  in  Colchester,  Conn.,  in  1822.  His  early  life 
was  the  precise  reverse  of  his  later  years.  His  home  in  the  quiet  village 
was  as  quiet  as  the  village,  and  his  time  as  devoid  of  jarring  antagonism. 
His  first  fifteen  years  were  passed  there,  a  common-school  education 
obtained,  and  a  reputation  gained  of  being  a  pleasant,  social,  and  remark- 
ably intelligent  and  affectionate  child.  When  he  was  fifteen,  and  his 
father,  Abial  L.  Bartholomew,  moved  to  Hartford  with  his  family,  Edward 


EDWARD  SHEFFIELD  KARTHCLOMEW.  —  FROM  A  PEN-SKETCH  DY  HIMSELF. 

accepted  reluctantly  the  necessity  of  breaking  these  cords  of  sympathy 
and  unity.  He  was  naturally  and  always  sensitive  ;  but  there  had  been 
little  in  his  early  surroundings  to  interfere  with  the  even  course  of 
nature.  On  arriving  in  Hartford  the  scene  altogether  changed.  Nat- 
urally quiet  and  thoughtful,  he  became  reserved  and  apparently  sullen, 
averse  to  testing  the  confidence  of  his  fellows,  and  unsympathetic  so  far 
as  outward  appearance  was  concerned.  It  grew  upon  him  year  by  year, 
as  one  cause  and  another  conspired  to  create  opposition  to  his  course  in 
the  minds  of  those  with  whom  he  came  in  contact.  He  wrote  to  a  friend 
from  Rome,  long  afterward,  "  I  have  never  been  able  to  overcome  my 
repugnance  at  meeting  strangers,  occasioned  by  my  first  impressions  of 


Edward  Sheffield  Bartholomew, 


the  world  in  Hartford."  An  almost  inevitable  accompaniment  to  such  a 
disposition  is  impetuosity  in  judgment,  and  quick  temper.  Those  who 
remember  Edward  Bartholomew  in  early  life,  before  in  hard  battles  he 
had  become  master  of  himself,  remember  him  as  rash,  and  easily  enraged. 
With  the  few  who  were  allowed  to  enter  the  inner  circle  of  his  life,  such 
moments  are  forgotten  in  the  bitter  repentance  that  always  came  after. 
An  intimate  friend  writes  of  him,  "  I  have  known  Edward  many  times 
to  regret  for  weeks,  with  the  most  vivid  remorse,  the  trivial  outburst  for  a 
moment  of  the  temper  he  struggled  so  valiantly  to  crush."  So  much  for 
the  incidental  characteristics  that  exerted  their  influence  over  his  future. 

Soon  after  settling  in  Hartford  he  was  apprenticed  to  a  bookbinder, 
and  to  satisfy  his  friends,  and  from  the  inevitable  necessity  of  doing  some- 
thing, gave  every  energy  to  the  task  of  fitting  himself  for  that  trade.  It 
was  utterly  useless,  however.  His  next  trial  was  dentistry  in  the  office  of 
Dr.  Crane.  He  held  to  this  by  force  of  a  strong  will  for  four  years,  against 
the  objections  which  nature  raised.  The  reasons  for  these  objections  were 
a  mystery ;  and  probably  none  more  than  he  regretted  it  when  again  that 
destiny  which  shapes  our  ends  literally  drove  him  from  this  second  trial, 
leaving  him,  as  he  afterward  jestingly  said,  ''a  vagabond,  whose  only  trade 
was  staring  at  pictures."  It  was  with  more  of  an  idea  of  ridding  himself 
of  his  present  surroundings,  in  which  he  considered  himself  a  "vagabond," 
than  with  any  thought  of  becoming  an  artist,  that  he  went  to  New  York 
and  studied  for  a  year  in  the  antique  and  life  schools  in  the  National 
Academy  of  Design.  He  supported  himself  during  the  year  by  a  resort 
to  his  knowledge  of  dentistry,  and  returned  to  Hartford  with  simply  a 
crayon  head  of  Homer.  It  was  admirably  executed,  no  doubt ;  but,  when 
some  one  suggested  it  to  the  artist,  he  simply  replied,  Any  fool  could 
do  it  after  studying  for  a  year."  When  twenty-three,  fortune  placed  him 
in  charge  of  the  Wadsworth  Gallery.  This  was  a  step  of  progress.  At 
this  time  two  of  the  few  friendships  of  his  life  were  formed  with  the 
artists  F.  E.  Church  and  Ralph  Isham,  that  served  to  strengthen  the 
influences. 

In  his  leisure  hours  he  indulged  a  passion  for  drawing,  that,  in  the 
practical  view  he  had  taken  of  life,  had  been  voluntarily  disregarded  as  an 
unprofitable  accomplishment.  He  made  copies  of  figures  on  Etruscan 
vases,  of  engravings  of  the  cartoons  of  Raphael,  and,  in  black  and  white, 
of  some  of  the  paintings. 

When  only  sixteen  he  had  painted  several  pieces :  hence  it  was  not  in 
entire  ignorance  either  of  drawing  or  color  that  he  turned  his  attention  to 
easel  and  palette,  and  he  was  soon  at  work  upon  a  large  picture.  In  this 
work,  inconsistent  with  all  previous  indications,  he  possessed  in  an 


114 


Art  a7id  Artists  in  Connecticut, 


extraordinary  degree  that  important  quality,  perseverance.  While  thus 
occupied,  he  suddenly  discovered  that  he  was  unable  to  tell  red  from 
green.  In  unutterable  chagrin  he  took  a  large  brush  filled  with  paint, 
and  drew  it  mercilessly  over  the  picture.  Then  he  kicked  the  easel, 
canvas  and  all,  to  the  end  of  the  room,  and  threw  his  palette  and  brushes 
after  the  wreck. 

As  a  schoolboy,  Edward  Bartholomew  had  exhibited  a  passion  for 
modelling  in  clay.  After  giving  up  the  art  of  painting,  he  was  left  invol- 
untarily to  turn  to  that  which  all  his  life  had  been  waiting  for  him.  Secur- 
ing a  piece  of  marble,  he  attempted  a  medallion  head  of  Mrs.  Sigourney. 
This  he  did  in  the  utmost  secrecy,  fearing  even  to  allow  his  left  hand  to 
know  what  his  right  was  doing,  lest  another  disappointment  might  be  in 
store  for  him.  He  was  working  upon  a  block  of  marble  wholly  unfit  for 
the  purpose.  He  had  simply  a  furniture-hammer,  and  a  file  for  a  chisel, 
when  discovered  by  J.  G.  Batterson,  Esq.,  who  sent  him  a  proper  piece  of 
marl)lc,  a  mallet,  and  complete  set  of  tools;  and  the  result,  in  the  medal- 
lion of  the  authoress  now  on  exhibition  in  the  Bartholomew  Collection, 
was  unquestionably  astonishing.  The  result  of  his  next  trial  was  Flora," 
still  pronounced  an  exquisite  work  ;  and  with  it  his  true  life  may  be  said  to 
have  begun.  James  B.  Hosmer,  the  late  venerable  patriarch  of  Hartford, 
was  his  first  live  model,  sitting  for  him  at  the  earnest  request  of  the  artist, 
that  he  might  try  his  next  experiment  with  a  friendly  face,  catching  a 
likeness  from  life. 

Mr.  Bartholomew  now  went  again  to  New  York,  to  attend  anatomical 
lectures  by  Dr.  Watts,  preparatory  to  going  to  Italy  to  study. 

While  occupying  a  temporary  studio  in  the  University  Building,  New 
York,  his  washerwoman  brought  his  clothes,  having  left  them,  as  he  dis- 
covered, in  the  room  with  a  small-pox  patient.  He  directed  her  to  wash 
them  again  ;  and,  to  her  negligence  and  dishonesty  in  not  obeying,  the 
world  must  charge  a  terrible  blow  that  virtually  wrecked  one  of  the  great- 
est promises  that  were  ever  couched  in  an  aspiring  artist.  What  he  did 
achieve,  great  as  it  was,  is  evidently  but  the  shadow  of  what  he  would  have 
accomplished  in  health  and  strength.  The  disease,  having  spent  its  fury 
upon  him,  settled  in  his  hip,  leaving  him  a  cripple  for  life,  with  a  pre- 
viously vigorous  constitution  sadly  broken  down. 

Mr.  Bartholomew  was  a  remarkably  handsome  man.  He  was  tall, 
erect,  and  strong.  He  had  coal-black  hair,  and  black,  flashing  eyes.  His 
cheeks  were  red,  his  nose  decidedly  Roman  ;  and  his  head  rested  with 
haughty,  fearless  grace  upon  his  shoulders.  He  was  the  personification 
of  an  artist.  In  winter  he  wore  a  long  black  cloak  thrown  about  his 
shoulders,  that  fairly  completed  the  picture.    He  was  sensitive,  brave,  and 


Edward .  Sheffield  Bartholomew. 


proud.  To  reduce  such  a  man  to  the  pale  convalescent  from  small-pox, 
and  force  him  to  bend  to  crutches,  is  a  blow  such  as  few  could  have 
received  without  bitter  disapproval.  But  he  had  no  idea  of  abandoning 
art ;  and,  after  spending  the  summer  testing  every  means  for  recovery,  he 
started  in  the  early  winter  of  1850,  on  crutches,  for  the  Eternal  City  of 
the  Italians,  in  an  Italian  vessel  poorly  fitted  for  the  accommodation  of  an 
invalid.  The  misery  he  endured  was  so  great,  that,  sighting  France,  he 
was,  at  his  earnest  request,  allowed  to  land,  and  make  the  best  of  his  way 
to  Rome.  The  third  day  after  his  arrival  in  Rome,  from  this  long  season 
of  hardships  that  justly  earned  for  him  a  recreation,  he  was  found  by 
a  friend,  almost  too  busy  to  speak,  working  on  the  model  of  his  Blind 
Homer  led  by  his  Daughter,"  in  his  first  studio  on  the  Piazza  di  Migno- 
nelli. 

His  first  year  he  spent  under  the  instruction  of  Sig.  Giorgio  Ferero, 
giving  his  principal  attention  to  bass-relief.  He  achieved  such  rapid 
success  in  this  branch,  that  Ferero  induced  him  to  visit  Greece  in  order  to 
study  there  the  perfection  of  the  art ;  and  the  following  summer  he  made 
an  extended  trip  through  the  East  in  pursuit  of  this  and  other  ends. 

The  Hon.  Henry  C.  Deming  of  Hartford,  delivering  a  lecture  on  Mr. 
Bartholomew  shortly  after  his  death,  quoted  from  a  letter  by  a  visitor 
at  Mr.  Bartholomew's  studio  :  I  was  astonished  at  the  variety  also  in 
the  Bartholomew  studio.  But,  when  I  came  to  look  over  his  portfolios, 
I  found  a  key  to  the  knowledge  he  shows.  I  found  sketches  of  scenery 
and  figures  through  Italy,  Greece,  Turkey,  Syria,  Palestine,  and  Egypt ; 
crayon-portraits  of  the  crowned  heads  of  a  dozen  different  nations  ;  elabo- 
rate anatomical  and  beautiful  architectural  drawings ;  temples  of  Paestum, 
Athens,  Asia  Minor,  Holy  Land,  and  the  Nile.  And  these  are  but  items 
of  the  mass  of  information  stored  in  the  artist's  brain  and  his  portfolios." 

In  one  of  many  exceedingly  interesting  letters  written  by  the  artist, 
he  says  of  himself,  I  am  like  one  whose  youth  and  buoyancy  is  burned 
out  by  premature  age  and  decay.  I  can  see  no  relief.  Contentment  and 
happiness  are  not  my  lot.  Happiness  I  crave ;  but  contentment  would 
only  increase  my  misery.  Who  wishes  for  contentment }  If  contented,  I 
should  have  nothing  to  live  for  or  to  strive  after ;  no  ambition,  no  excite- 
ment. I  might  as  well  be  a  stone.  Infinitely  better  if  hewn  into  a  statue  ! 
To  become  contented  is  drinking  of  the  waters  of  oblivion.  Let  me  never 
taste  of  either."  Later  in  the  same  letter  he  says,  I  am  now  at  work 
upon  my  'Ganymede'  and  *  Eagle  of  Jupiter.'  Twelve  hours  at  least  out 
of  every  twenty-four  are  spent  upon  them.  They  haunt  me  nights  to  such 
a  degree,  that  T  sometimes  think  I  shall  go  mad.  But  my  courage  is  as 
good  as  ever,  and  my  determination  much  greater.    If  poverty  keep  the 


ii6 


Art  and  Artists  in  Connecticut, 


upper  hand,  I  will  work  in  a  garret ;  but  my  earnestness  for  truth  and 
excellence  shall  strike  a  blow  in  art  which  shall  be  felt." 

His  greatest  work  was  certainly  "  Eve  Repentant,"  and  the  bass-relief 
groups  for  the  pedestal,  without  a  characteristic  fault,  and  open  to  criti- 
cism only  where  blunders  from  inexperience  may  be  found,  that  time  and 
study  would  surely  have  overcome.  It  is  unfortunate  for  Hartford  that 
the  original  of  this  masterpiece  should  be  owned  in  Philadelphia,  and  only 
a  laborer's  copy  of  the  artist's  model  possessed  in  the  Bartholomew 
Collection.  However,  many  thanks  are  due  to  the  generosity  and  energy 
of  James  B.  Hosmer,  J.  G.  Batterson,  J.  W.  Stancliff,  and  others,  that  so 
much  has  been  secured  which  would  otherwise  hav^e  been  entirely  lost  to 
the  city  that  owned  the  author  as  her  prodigy.  The  first  copy,  bearing 
the  artist's  own  work  in  the  finish,  had  already  been  sent  to  Philadelphia 
when  Mr.  Batterson  arrived  in  Rome,  after  Bartholomew's  death  ;  but  the 
model  was  left,  and  the  workmen  who  had  cut  the  first  statue  under  the 
master's  direction  and  criticism  were  not  too  widely  scattered  to  be 
brought  together  again  for  another  endeavor.  Their  work  was  well  done, 
the  circumstances  considered  ;  but  the  value  of  the  author's  immediate 
attention  with  every  stroke,  and  especially  his  careful  eye,  and  sensitive 
desire  for  the  perfection  of  his  work  as  it  approaches  completion,  cannot 
be  over-estimated.  This  care  the  copy  in  the  Wadsworth  Athenaeum 
lacks ;  and  certain  of  the  last,  most  delicate,  most  artistic  touches  to 
be  found  in  the  first  are  wanting  in  the  second.  It  is,  however,  a  treasure 
that  cannot  be  too  highly  prized,  translating  the  thought,  if  not  with 
the  exquisite  delicacy  of  the  sculptor,  at  least  with  his  individuality  of 
conception  and  design.  The  statue  is  large  life-size,  and  at  first  sight 
may  strike  the  observer  as  being  somewhat  out  of  proportion,  the  lower 
limbs,  and  especially  the  ankles,  appearing  over-large  :  but,  according  to 
the  strict  laws  of  proportion,  the  body  is  correct ;  and  the  national  charac- 
teristics in  face  and  figure  of  every  model  must  be  considered,  account- 
ing for  many  peculiarities  that  might  otherwise  be  faults. 

The  Eve "  sits  upon  an  irregular  rock :  at  her  feet  lies  an  apple  ; 
about  the  base  of  the  rock  is  coiled  the  serpent ;  while  the  half-finished 
apron  of  leaves  lies  forgotten  in  her  lap.  The  whole  rests  on  an  octangu- 
lar pedestal.  This  pedestal  bears  the  bass-reliefs,  the  original  models  for 
which  are  owned  by  the  Yale  Art  School,  representing  scenes  in  and  out 
of  the  first  garden  before  and  after  the  first  temptation.  These  bass-reliefs 
are,  if  any  thing,  more  valuable  specimens  of  the  artist's  work  than  even 
the  principal  figure. 

This  work,  however,  should  not  be  allowed  to  overshadow  the  graces 
of  the  rest.    The  following  list  of  the  more  prominent  among  them  is 


Edward  Sheffield  Bartholomew, 


117 


copied  :  "Calypso,"  Sappho,"  Campagna,"  Genius  of  Music,"  Genius 
of  Painting,"  "Shepherd  Boy,"  "Infant  Pan  and  the  Wizards,"  "Ruth 
and  Naomi,"  or  "  Youth  and  Old  Age,"  "  Ganymede  "  and  the  "  Eagle  of 
Jupiter,"  "Genevieve,"  "Homer  and  his  Daughter,"  "  The  Evening  Star," 
"Washington,"  besides  many  others,  and  much  ornamental  work  upon 
monuments,  and  copies  made  of  several  of  the  best  designs.  Yet  his 
work  was  just  begun.  His  individual  merit,  evident  in  all  of  his  work, 
was  an  intuitive  perception  of  the  strongest  and  most  artesque  aspect  of 
the  theme  in  hand,  and  a  clear  delineation  of  the  idea  as  it  was  thus 
presented. 

Twice  after  his  establishment  in  Rome  he  returned  to  Hartford  for  a 
short  visit,  each  time  being  overloaded  with  orders.  His  celebrity  had 
reached  such  a  point,  that  upon  the  second  visit  a  very  unusual  token  of 
public  opinion  was  tendered  by  the  people  of  Hartford  in  the  shape  of  a 
grand  dinner  given  to  the  two  great  representatives  and  intimate  friends 
Bartholomew  and  Church. 

Few  if  any  of  the  orders  received  upon  this  visit  were  even  begun 
in  marble.  His  death,  occurring  when  it  did,  is  the  strangest,  most 
unreconcilable  incident  of  his  life.  The  stilling  of  his  hand,  the  hush- 
ing of  his  mallet,  the  silencing  of  his  brain  in  death,  at  the  moment 
when  enthusiasm  and  inspiration  were  rapidly  carrying  him  to  great 
achievements,  are  incomprehensible  providences  that  must  always  remain 
past  finding  out.  He  had  suffered,  though  not  severely,  for  several  weeks, 
almost  immediately  after  his  return  from  America ;  and  was  persistently 
urged  by  the  physician  under  whose  care  he  had  placed  himself  to  leave 
for  Naples,  in  the  hope  of  benefit  from  the  change.  He  had  been  but  a 
short  time  in  Naples  when  he  was  prostrated  by  an  alarming  increase  of 
the  trouble  in  his  throat.  After  a  doubtful  struggle  for  life  he  rallied, 
and  had  nearly  recovered  from  the  disease  as  seated  in  his  throat,  when 
his  system,  already  in  a  precarious  condition  as  the  result  of  overwork 
(indeed,  he  had  never  been  well  since  his  partial  recovery  from  the  small- 
pox), suffered  a  general  relapse,  which  ended  in  his  forfeiture  of  life. 
Mr.  Osgood,  an  artist  well  known  in  Hartford  fifty  years  ago,  was  with 
him  when  he  died. 

On  the  announcement  of  his  death,  a  sum  of  money  was  immediately 
raised  in  Hartford,  and  J.  G.  Batterson  intrusted  to  act  for  the  subscribers 
in  securing  the  casts  and  any  works  that  might  be  left  in  his  studio,  for 
constant  exhibition  in  the  Athenaeum,  in  the  room  where  he  had  cut  his 
first  marble. 

Only  a  short  time  before  his  death,  which  occurred  May,  1858,  while 
talking  with  a  friend,  in  the  Protestant  cemetery  at  Naples,  of  the  warm 


ii8 


Art  and  Artists  ut  Connecticut, 


south-western  knoll,  catching  the  breezes  from  Africa  and  the  ocean,  and 
illuminated  by  the  sun  in  its  most  glowing  setting,  he  exclaimed,  **What 
a  lovely  spot !  If  I  die  in  Italy,  I  hope  I  may  be  buried  there."  It  was  a 
strange  sequel  to  that  wish,  that  so  soon  others  strolling  over  that  ever- 
sunny  knoll  should  find  a  new  tomb  touched  by  the  red  glow  of  the  Medi- 
terranean twilight,  and  should  read  upon  the  monument  that  marked  it,  — 

"^acrcU  to  tf}c  fHcmorg 

OF  ' 

EDWARD  SHEFFIELD  BARTHOLOMEW." 


THE  IIAKTHOLOMEW  GKAVE  I.N  NAPLES. 


CHARLES   DE  WOLF  BROWNELL. 

The  artist  Brownell,  born  in  Providence  in  1822,  was  brought  to  East 
Hartford  when  two  years  old.  He  grew  up  in  Connecticut,  and  thoroughly 
identified  himself  in  his  art-life  with  the  State.  From  1824  to  i860  his 
home  remained  in  East  Hartford.  The  first  nineteen  years  were  of  ordi- 
nary study  and  preparation  for  the  bar.  The  principal  indications  of  the 
boyhood  which  have  proved  of  greatest  value  in  forming  the  character  of 
the  man  were  fearlessness,  ardent  affection,  scrupulous  faithfulness.  On 
several  occasions  this  ambition  to  exceed  rather  than  fall  short  of  duty 
has  brought  upon  him  the  serious  results  of  overtaxed  health. 

He  carried  into  his  study  of  law  the  same  energy,  and  was  admitted 
to  the  bar  in  1843.  He  practised  in  Hartford  for  ten  years,  except  three 
winters  spent  at  the  South  for  his  health.  In  1853,  while  depressed  by 
the  effects  of  a  severe  attack  of  congestion  of  the  lungs,  he  fell  into  a 
moralizing  mood.    The  conclusion  of  the  matter  was  a  call  upon  Henry 


Charles  De  Wolf  Brownell. 


119 


Bryant,  with  the  declaration  that  he  could  not  be  an  honest  man  and  be  a 
successful  lawyer,  and  was  ready  to  look  at  the  propriety  of  becoming 
a  landscape-painter,  for  which  he  had  always  possessed  a  strong  ambition. 
The  talent  and  taste  were  inherited  from  his  mother,  who  was  an  excellent 
artist,  though  not  a  professional  painter.  The  sacrifice  of  the  law  was 
made  at  no  small  cost  of  courage  ;  for  a  good  income  at  the  bar  is  not 
with  impunity  exchangeable  for  an  artist's  livelihood.  In  Mr.  Brownell's 
brother,  Henry  Howard,  the  poet,  he  found  his  most  ardent  supporter. 
His  first  instruction  was  under  Julius  Busch,  in  drawing ;  then  under  Mr. 
Ropes,  well  remembered  by  the  older  citizens  of  Hartford ;  which,  with 


the  exception  of  many  practical  hints  from  Henry  Bryant,  was  all  he 
received  before  entering  "Paul  Potter's  studio,"  and  the  "Academy  of 
Leonardo  da  Vinci,"  up  and  down  the  Connecticut  Valley.  He  also  spent 
much  time  copying  still-life  with  success.  Thereafter  for  seven  consecu- 
tive years  he  spent  the  winter  in  Cuba,  making  an  extensive  series  of 
studies  of  the  tropical  scenery  in  oil,  water-color,  pencil,  and  pen-and-ink. 
In  1854  Trinity  College,  Hartford,  conferred  upon  him  the  degree  of 
A.M.  In  i860  he  moved  his  studio  to  New  York,  where  he  remained 
for  five  years.  The  next  six  years  he  passed  in  Europe  with  his  wife  and 
children.  At  present  the  artist  resides  in  Bristol,  R.I.  Among  his 
valuable  works  in  Connecticut  is  the  best  painting  ever  made  of  the  old 


CHARLES  DE  WOLF  BROWNELL. 


I20 


Art  and  Artists  i7i  Connecticut, 


Charter  Oak,  now  owned  by  Ex-Gov.  Jewell ;  and  a  remarkable  work 
illustrative  of  Kingsley's  lines,  — 

"  The  sea-beast 

Stiffened,  and  stood  brown  rock  in  the  wash  of  the  wandering  water,"  — 

owned  by  Dr.  Holmes.  A  semicircular  reef  of  rocks  in  a  lonely  bay, 
with  a  few  palms  in  the  foreground,  forms  alone  a  fine  picture  ;  but,  on 


"the  charter  oak."  —  BY  CHARLES  DE  W.  BROWNELL. 


closer  study,  the  reef  of  rocks  assumes  the  outline  of  the  sea-monster, 
over  which  the  surf  is  breaking.  In  his  knowledge  of  tropical  scenery  he 
may  be  classed  as  having  but  few  superiors.  One  of  his  finest  pictures  is 
an  autumn-scene  on  the  Connecticut  River,  ten  miles  above  Saybrook. 

CALVIN  CURTIS. 

The  portrait-painter  Calvin  Curtis,  at  present  located  in  Bridgeport, 
was  born  in  Stratford,  Conn.,  July  5,  1822,  a  farmer's  son.  Under  his 
mother's  encouragement  he  procured  books  on  drawing,  and  studied  art  by 
himself,  finally  constructing  for  himself  a  palette  and  easel  (the  first  he  had 
ever  seen).  In  December,  1841,  he  began  study  under  Daniel  Huntington, 
spending  his  evenings  at  the  Academy  of  Design.  In  1843  he  opened  a 
studio  of  his  own,  and  six  years  later  returned  to  Connecticut,  painting  in 
Birmingham  and  Waterbury  till  disabled  by  disease  in  1856,  which  con- 


T.  W.  Wood.  —  Thomas  Hicks.  —  J.  Denison  Crocker.    1 2 1 

fined  him  to  his  bed  for  nearly  three  years.  In  the  fall  of  1859,  beginning 
to  use  his  brush  again,  he  went  to  Bridgeport,  where  he  has  since  remained. 
His  drawing  is  accurate,  and  he  possesses  remarkably  good  taste  in,  color- 
ing. Beside  portraiture,  he  has  of  late,  in  a  limited  degree,  extended  his 
labors  very  successfully  into  the  field  of  landscape.  He  is  a  man  of  strong 
will  and  superior  education  ;  and  those  who  are  best  able  to  judge,  consid- 
ering that  every  stroke  of  his  brush  for  twenty  years  has  been  accompanied 
with  a  nervous  pain,  express  warm  commendation  of  his  work  especially 
as  evidence  of  what  might  have  been. 

T.   W.  WOOD. 

Thomas  W.  Wood  is  another  of  the  celebrated  artists  to  whose  visits 
Connecticut  owes  much  of  the  art-love  that  pervades  her  territory.  He 
was  born  in  Montpelier,  Vt.,  Nov.  12,  1823  ;  and  came  to  Connecticut  in 
1857,  painting  in  Winsted  previous  to  an  extended  trip  through  Europe. 
He  has  lately  developed,  beside  his  achievements  in  oil-painting,  a  strength 
in  water-color  that  promises  to  raise  him  even  higher  in  the  ranks  of  art. 

THOMAS  HICKS. 

In  1866  Thomas  Hicks  honored  the  State  with  his  presence  while 
making  copies  in  New  Haven  of  Col.  Trumbull's  and  Ralph  Earl's 
portraits  of  Roger  Sherman.  Several  copies  in  all  were  made  for  Mr. 
Moore  of  Trenton  Falls,  Secretary  Evarts,  and  others.  It  would  be 
impossible,  within  the  limits  of  the  subject,  to  offer  to  Mr.  Hicks  so 
much  as  a  salutation  from  the  State  in  accord  with  his  position  in  art 
and  society  ;  so  that,  attempting  nothing  more,  the  visit  is  simply  recorded 
with  reference  to  the  influence  that  must  be  extended  by  the  presence  of 
such  a  visitor.  He  was  born  of  Quaker  parents  in  Newton,  Penn.,  1823  ; 
and  in  Mr.  Tuckerman's  book,  so  far  as  it  extends,  will  be  found  an  inter- 
esting and  valuable  account  of  his  career. 

J.   DENISON  CROCKER. 

A  landscape-painter  of  Norwich,  J.  D.  Crocker,  was  born  in  Salem, 
Conn.,  Nov.  25,  1823.  When  nine  years  old,  a  wagon-maker,  pleased 
with  his  mechanical  bent,  engaged  him  to  work  through  his  vacations  at 
fifty  cents  a  day.  When  twelve,  this  was  given  up  to  learn  the  trade  of 
the  silversmith,  in  which  he  became  an  expert.  In  1840,  while  at  work 
in  a  chair-manufactory,  a  portrait  fell  into  his  hands  that  had  been  sent 


122 


Art  and  Artists  in  Connecticut, 


there  to  be  varnished.  It  was  the  first  oil-painting  he  had  ever  seen,  and 
filled  him  with  a  new  desire.  He  stood  before  the  glass,  and  painted 
himself.  It  induced  him  to  become  a  portrait-painter.  With  the  excep- 
tion of  a  few  hints  from  Charles  Lanman,  who  was  in  Norwich  at  the 
time,  and  interested  himself  in  his  beginning,  Mr.  Crocker  never  received 
instruction  in  art,  but  gradually  turned  from  portraiture  to  landscape,  in 
which  he  has  passed  the  greater  part  of  his  art-life.  He  is  the  author 
also  of  several  valuable  inventions,  among  them  a  cork-cutting  machine 
in  popular  operation,  and  a  file-machine  ready  for  introduction. 

NELSON  AUGUSTUS  MOORE. 

N.  A.  Moore,  an  artist  whose  name  is  familiarly  associated  with  Lake 
George,  was  born  in  Kensington,  Conn.,  Aug.  2,  1824.  His  first  impres- 
sions of  art  were  gathered  under  peculiar  circumstances,  while  holding  a 
light  for  Milo  Hotchkiss  to  paint  the  portrait  of  a  child  that  had  been 
killed  by  an  accident,  and  upon  which  he  was  obliged  to  work  through 


"a  snow-scene."  — a  study  in  oil,  by  N.  a.  MOORE. 


the  night.  He  obtained  canvas,  colors,  and  brushes,  and  at  once  began 
study  by  himself.  When  twenty-two  he  studied  for  one  winter  under 
Thomas  S.  Cummings,  drawing  from  casts  ;  and,  later,  portrait-painting 
under  Daniel  Huntington.  In  the  spring  of  1849  he  began  work  in 
Kensington,  but  soon  gave  up  portrait-painting  almost  entirely  for  land- 


Horace  C.  Johnson.  —  S.  K.  Jones. —  Vincent  Co  Iyer.  123 

scape.  Pastoral  scenes  have  been  made  a  specialty,  and  several  snow- 
scenes  possessing  undeniable  merit  have  gone  from  his  studio.  The 
foliage  of  the  seasons  on  the  various  trees  of  New  England  has  also 
been  made  a  special  study,  with  successful  results.  An  ideal  piece,  "  The 
Genius  of  Liberty,"  was  received  with  much  public  favor.  The  artist's 
feeling  for  color  is  especially  commendable. 

HORACE  C.  JOHNSON. 

H.  C.  Johnson  of  Waterbury,  portrait-painter,  was  born  in  Oxford, 
Conn.,  in  1824.  He  had  a  strong  love  for  art  from  childhood,  but,  being 
left  an  orphan  very  early  in  life,  fell  into  the  hands  of  those  much  opposed 
to  a  life  devoted  to  the  fine  arts.  He  made  many  experiments  with  colors, 
and  was  an  accomplished  draughtsman  before  he  received  any  instruction. 
In  deference  to  the  wishes  of  friends  he  first  attempted  a  mercantile  life, 
during  which  time  he  invented  a  valuable  drill  for  artesian  wells,  the  fame 
of  which  appeared  even  in  Russia.  Breaking  away  at  last,  he  began  a 
course  of  art-study  under  A.  H.  Emmons  of  Hartford,  where  he  formed 
a  life  friendship  with  E.  S.  Bartholomew,  with  whom  he  entered  the 
antique  school  of  the  National  Academy,  joining  him  again  in  Rome 
under  his  instructor  Ferraro.  He  also  studied  in  the  English  Life  School, 
and  returned  to  America  to  settle  in  Waterbury,  where  he  has  since 
practised  the  profession  of  the  portrait-painter  with  a  success  that  has 
left  him  no  desire  to  change  his  location.  . 

S.   K.  JONES. 

A  portrait-painter  residing  in  New  Haven,  S.  K.  Jones,  born  in  Clin- 
ton, Conn.,  February,  1825,  at  fifteen  years  of  age  formed  the  deter- 
mination to  undertake  the  profession  of  art.  It  was  1846,  however,  before 
an  opportunity  offered  for  study.  This  was  under  Alvin  Fisher,  who  was 
then  painting  in  New  York.  Without  means  to  carry  on  the  study,  he 
was  obliged  to  give  it  up  in  six  months,  and  for  several  years  painted  as 
an  itinerant.  Since  1861  he  has  painted  in  New  Haven,  clinging  through- 
out to  portrait-painting,  and  attempting  nothing  else. 

VINCENT  COLYER. 

The  artist-member  of  the  Connecticut  legislature  from  Darien  in 
1877,  Vincent  Colyer,  became  a  citizen  of  the  State  in  1866.  He  was 
born  in  Bloomingdale,  now  Central  Park,  New  York,  in  1825.    His  father 


124 


Art  and  Ai^ lists  in  Connecticut. 


died  of  cholera  in  1832,  leaving  a  widow  and  seven  children  wholly  unac- 
customed to  poverty.  To  the  following  experiences  Mr.  Colyer  attributes 
the  impulses  which  later  in  life  caused  him  often  to  neglect  his  profes- 
sion for  benevolent  and  philanthropic  labors.  After  various  positions  as 
errand-boy  and  clerk,  he  acted  upon  the  advice  of  Edward  Mooney,  and 
began  the  study  of  art  under  J.  R.  Smith,  as  well  as  several  other 
branches  of  study.  Drawing  upon  stone  secured  him  work  that  paid  his 
expenses  as  he  studied,  including  three  years  in  the  antique  and  life 
schools  in  the  National  Academy.  During  his  study  of  anatomy  he 
worked  for  an  entire  summer,  modelling  every  muscle  of  the  human  form, 
and  fitting  it  upon  a  skeleton.    In  1849       ^vas  elected  an  associate  of 


MNCENT  COLYER. 


the  National  Academy.  His  crayon-portraits  brought  him  a  hundred  and 
fifty  dollars  each  ;  for  the  time,  an  exceedingly  high  figure.  Before  the 
Rebellion  he  was  among  the  first  to  speak  through  a  famous  canvas, 
"  Freedom's  Martyr,"  representing  the  burial  of  Barber  by  John  Brown 
and  others  ;  and  shortly  after,  throwing  every  thing  else  one  side,  he 
entered  the  army  in  various  positions  of  Christian  benevolence,  chiefly 
in  connection  with  the  New-York  Young  Men's  Christian  Association 
(of  which  he  was  afterward  president),  the  Brooklyn  Association,  and  St. 
George's  Episcopal  Church,  originating  among  other  good  works  the  Chris- 
tian Commission.  During  the  riots  of  1863  Mr.  Colyer  also  appeared 
as  the  boldest  of  the  friends  of  the  colored  man  in  New  York ;  and 


Benjamin  Akers.  —  Richard  Hinsdale,  125 

after  the  war,  abandoning  the  position  of  curator  of  the  Cooper  Institute, 
he  entered  with  as  much  spirit  into  a  self-imposed  labor  with  and  for  the 
Indians. 

In  1866  he  had  bought  a  part  of  Contentment  Island,  a  mile  from 
Darien,  and  erected  a  studio  there;  and  in  1872,  after  ten  years  of  the 
above  benevolence,  Mr.  Colyer  left  the  Indian  Commission  in  Washington, 
and  retired  to  his  studio  and  easel,  having  produced  but  one  finished 
picture  in  the  interim.  He  now  began  working  up  sketches  he  had  made 
in  the  West  during  visits  among  the  Indians. 

In  1873  the  yellow-fever,  raging  in  the  Mississippi  Valley,  extended 
a  call,  which  Mr.  Colyer  gladly  accepted,  to  enter  the  sanitary  field  again. 
At  present  he  is  once  more  devoting  his  time  to  art,  having  declined  a 
second  nomination  to  the  State  legislature  which  was  unanimously  offered 
him. 

BENJAMIN  AKERS. 

Benjamin  Akers,  better  known  to  the  world  and  fame  by  his  nick- 
name "Paul,"  born  in  Saccarappa,  Me.,  July,  1825,  gained  his  first 
impressions  of  art  while  studying  in  Norwich  in  1835,  chiefly  through  the 
agency  of  a  plaster  cast  in  the  house  of  Francis  Finnegin,  with  whom 
he  was  living.  His  life  is  well  known  through  other  histories,  resulting 
in  the  famed  sculptor.    He  died  in  May,  1861. 

RICHARD  HINSDALE. 

A  son  of  the  Mr.  Hinsdale,  long  bookkeeper  of  the  Hartford  Bank, 
Richard  by  name,  was  born  in  Hartford  in  1825.  When  twenty  he 
attempted  to  take  lessons  of  A.  H.  Emmons,  but  was  restless  and  uneasy, 
unable  to  finish  his  first  copy.  Taking  a  French  leave,  he  tried  Mr. 
Hewins  with  the  same  result ;  then  J.  B.  Flagg.  After  leaving  Mr.  Flagg, 
nothing  was  heard  from  him  till  he  appeared  again  with  a  canvas  under 
his  arm,  on  which  was  a  portrait,  in  black  and  white,  of  a  shoe-dealer  of 
the  city,  which  he  had  executed  from  life,  watching  him  through  the 
window,  then  going  home  to  work.  The  picture  was  a  correct,  forcible 
likeness.  There  was  genius  in  it ;  but  the  genius  was  cruelly  kept  under 
a  bushel  throughout  the  artist's  life  by  the  same  restless  spirit  that  drove 
him  about  as  a  boy.  He  soon  left  Hartford,  painted  for  a  few  months  in 
Massachusetts,  and  then  went  to  New  York,  where  he  deliberately  laid 
down  painting,  and  took  up  wood-engraving  and  the  introduction  of  a 
"home  gymnasium"  which  he  had  invented.  In  1850  he  returned  to 
Hartford,  and  again  planted  his  easel  before  him  with  much  more  deter- 


126 


Art  and  Artists  in  Connecticut, 


mination  than  before.  The  result  was  at  once  evident.  Dr.  Beresford, 
Mr.  Pond,  and  J.  G.  Batterson,  were  his  chief  patrons.  Some  excellent 
little  landscapes  and  many  ideal  pieces  of  his  painting  still  remain.  He 
was  very  fond  of  children,  and  many  times  stopped  in  the  street  to  play 
with  them.  Most  of  his  ideal  pictures  evince  the  same  fondness.  The 
masterpiece  of  his  short  life  in  art  was  doubtless  "The  Haunted  House," 
—  a  group  of  children  in  a  dimly-lighted  room,  circled  about  a  negress, 


"GETTING  A  blTE."  —  klCHARU  HINSUALE'S  LAST  PAINTING. 


listening  to  ghost-stories.  He  left  on  his  easel,  when  he  died,  Getting  a 
Bite,"  equal  in  execution  to  any  thing  he  had  done, — a  youthful  angler 
watching  his  cork  go  under.  It  is  in  possession  of  N.  A.  Moore  of 
Kensington.  He  was  altogether  void  of  any  executive  ability  beyond  his 
art ;  always  poor,  and  always  careless  of  where  the  next  meal  was  coming 
from  till  he  became  hungry.  He  died  an  early  and  very  painful  death, 
which  cut  short  a  life  of  very  exceptional  promise  almost  at  the  hour  it 
began  to  assume  shape  and  strength. 


John  Bunyan  Bristol,  —  Frederick  Edwin  Church.      1 2  7 


JOHN  BUNYAN  BRISTOL. 

The  father  of  the  landscape-painter  J.  B.  Bristol,  whose  work  is  so 
popular  to-day,  was  a  native  of  New  Haven.  This  led  the  artist  first  to 
that  city,  and,  later,  up  the  Connecticut  River  and  along  the  coast,  on 
sketching  trips.  His  Evening  on  the  Connecticut  at  Hartford  "  is  a 
remarkably  quiet,  restful,  and  skilfully-executed  work ;  which,  indeed,  are 
characteristics  of  all  of  Mr.  Bristol's  painting.  He  spent  a  summer  sketch- 
ing about  the  Four-Mile-Point  Light  below  New  Haven,  and  in  the  winter 
following  produced  three  paintings  from  these  sketches,  and  an  admirable 
view  of  New  Haven  from  the  bay,  that  won  critical  admiration,  especially 
for  the  atmospheric  effects  produced.  Mr.  Bristol  was  born  in  Hillsdale, 
a  quiet  town  of  New  York  (too  quiet  he  found  it  before  he  had  done  with 
it),  March  14,  1826.  A  single  month's  instruction  under  Henry  Ary,  a 
portrait-painter  of  Hudson,  N.Y.,  formed  his  entire  pupilage  in  art,  beyond 
the  constant  study  of  the  faithful  artist ;  yet,  in  his  peculiar  line,  Mr. 
Bristol  has  few  superiors  in  the  world  of  art.  He  was  elected  an  acade- 
mician in  1875,  a  time  when  it  was  so  begrudgingly  given  as  to  make  it  a 
tribute  of  decided  worth.  He  is  also  a  member  of  the  Artists'  Fund  and 
the  Century  Club.  Connecticut,  of  course,  lays  no  claim  to  the  artist, 
but  congratulates  herself  that  he  and  his  works  are  popular  within  her 
boundaries. 

FREDERICK  EDWIN  CHURCH. 

That  task  is  most  difficult,  wisely  and  well  to  portray  that  which  is 
great.  To  perform  his  task  perfectly,  the  portrait-painter  must  for  the 
time  be  one  with  his  sitter,  seeing  and  thinking  as  the  sitter  sees  and 
thinks.  Such  is  equally  necessary  for  the  biographer.  But  those  men 
are  few  in  one  profession  who  are  able  to  raise  themselves  to  an  under- 
standing of  the  great  men  of  another.  In  a  history  of  art  in  Connecticut, 
biographies  might  be  expected  of  several  distinguished  artists,  including 
F.  E.  Church,  to  whom  America  owes  much  gratitude  for  the  stimulus 
given  to  landscape-painting  in  this  country,  and  the  dignity  accorded  to 
American  landscape-painting  abroad.  Owing  to  the  conviction  that  such 
biographies  would  be  impossible  in  the  present  case,  they  have  not  been 
attempted.  The  few  facts  following  will  give  but  a  limited  outline,  that, 
so  far  as  it  extends,  shall  be  accurate,  closing  with  the  comments  of 
several  journals  of  authority  upon  some  of  the  artist's  more  important 
pieces. 

Frederick  Edwin  Church  was  born  on  Temple  Street,  Hartford,  Conn., 
in  May,  1826.    He  was  the  only  son  of  the  late  Joseph  Church,  a  wealthy 


128 


Art  and  Artists  in  Connecticut. 


and  respected  citizen,  whose  long  life  allowed  him  the  pride  and  pleasure 
of  witnessing  the  artist's  success  in  a  life  he  had  consented  to  his  under- 
taking with  many  misgivings,  counting  art,  of  all  professions,  least  wisely 
undertaken  on  any  uncertainty.  When  sixteen,  Mr.  Church  was  received 
as  a  private  pupil  in  drawing  by  Benjamin  H.  Coe,  and  studied  in  color 
under  A.  H.  Emmons  for  six  months.  Throughout  his  school-days,  every 
thing  was  made  subservient  to  art  ;  and  many  reminiscences  among  his 
friends  are  of  fishing  and  pedestrian  excursions,  from  which  he  returned 
with  his  hat  full  of  pencil-sketches  of  the  clouds,  —  first  studies  of  the  sky 
and  atmosphere.    Once  fairly  entered  upon  art,  his  father  was  most  zealous 


"A  TIKKISH   LANn^LAl  i:."  —  A  STUDY  IN  OIL,  UY  K.   E.  CHLXi.ll. 


that  he  should  receive  every  advantage.  Thomas  Cole  had  never  given 
instruction  ;  but  through  the  intervention  of  Daniel  Wadsworth,  an  inti- 
mate friend  of  both,  an  arrangement  was  made  whereby  Mr.  Church 
became  pupil  and  lifelong  friend  of  the  great  landscape-painter.  The 
early  friendship  that  existed  between  Church,  Bartholomew,  and  Ralph 
Earl,  proved  mutually  beneficial.  The  characteristics  of  the  man  were 
evident  in  the  student, — resolution  of  purpose,  tireless  energy,  and  strict 
honesty  circling  genius,  aiding  in  the  accomplishment  of  an  unusual  feat 
in  art,  where  prominence  has  been  gained  without  application  to  the  Old- 
World  art  or  to  the  old  masters  ;  he  never  having  been  abroad  until  his 
fame  was  as  firmly  established  in  Europe  as  America.    In  the  pursuit  of 


Frederick  Edwin  Church, 


129 


this  knowledge  he  studied  nature  in  every  clime,  from  the  heart  of  the 
tropics  to  the  home  of  the  icebergs.  The  genius  developed  among  the 
wild  ridges  and  stony  reveries  of  the  Catskills,  the  home  of  Cole,  was 
marked  throughout  with  strong  individuality.  He  followed  closely  Cole's 
advice,  —  to  make  his  brush  his  only  walking-stick ;  and  one  of  his  first 
independent  works,  a  view  of  West  Rock,  New  Haven,  at  once  obtained 
critical  approval,  and  was  purchased  by  Cyrus  W.  Field.  The  important 
result  of  his  study  in  New  England  was  an  Autumn  Forest  Scene," 
displayed  at  the  academy,  and  purchased  by  his  father.  It  was  the 
first  of  the  grand  landscapes  that  have  made  his  name  famous.  The  sun 
is  setting  over  a  brilliant  forest  almost  touched  with  fire.  A  cool  lake, 
below  the  last  rays  of  light,  that  are  cut  off  by  a  distant  mountain-top, 
reflects  the  warm  picture.  In  the  lake  cattle  are  standing,  enjoying  their 
evening  draught.  The  cloud-forms  are  characteristically  rendered.  The 
entire  atmospheric  effect  is  of  New  England,  and  no  other  place  in  the 
world.  This  picture  prepared  the  way  for  the  Niagara."  It  was  not 
that  it  was  less  skilfully  wrought  that  it  received  less  praise  ;  but  it 
surprised  the  critics  and  the  public,  and  all  waited  expectantly.  The 
"Niagara"  came,  and  was  as  thoroughly  Niagara.  To  the  last  rock,  and 
cloud  of  spray,  ray  of  sunlight,  rainbow,  and  ripple,  there  was  every  thing 
pertaining  to  Niagara,  nothing  to  any  thing  else.  The  world  was  satisfied, 
as  following  extracts  will  testify.  Strictly  speaking,  the  painting  was  the 
work  of  just  six  weeks,  but,  in  reality,  of  a  long  and  patient  study  and 
many  sketches.  The  perfect  accuracy  in  drawing  was  accomplished  in  a 
way  solving  to  some  degree  the  mystery  of  the  success.  The  artist  pre- 
pared two  canvases  of  the  same  size.  On  one  he  experimented  till  his 
critical  eye  was  satisfied  with  a  line  or  an  object;  then  placed  it  on  the 
other.  The  result  of  his  study  was  such  an  intimate  knowledge  of  his 
subject,  that  long  afterward  he  painted  the  main  fall  on  a  smaller  canvas, 
in  seven  hours,  from  memory. 

In  1853  Mr.  Church  sailed  for  South  America,  having  long  con- 
sidered between  the  Rocky  Mountains  and  the  Andes.  It  was  the  third 
step  in  a  career  that  has  placed  before  the  public  so  many  of  the  distant 
wonders  of  the  world  and  the  glories  of  it.  The  hardships  of  such  a  trip 
into  the  wildest  scenery  of  South  America  may  not  easily  be  portrayed  in 
a  limited  space.  Not  satisfied  with  having  been  there  once,  Mr.  Church 
repeated  the  undertaking  in  1857  to  assure  himself  that  nothing  of  all 
the  beauties  should  be  forgotten.  In  the  "  Heart  of  the  Andes,"  Chim- 
borazo,"  "  Cotopaxi,"  "The  Great  Mountain  Chain  of  New  Granada," 
"Rainy  Season  in  the  Tropics,"  and  many  others.  South  America  has 
been  faithfully  and  minutely  brought  before  us.    The  works  are  techni- 


Art  and  Artists  in  Connecticut, 


cally  and  practically  different  from  any  other  productions  of  the  artist, 
and  of  themselves  create  the  impression  that  they  must  be  true  to  leaf  and 
flower,  cloud  and  atmosphere,  —  true  as  the  New  England  and  the  Niag- 
ara, with  all  the  details  of  tropical  flora,  the  tints  of  tropical  atmosphere, 
the  traits  of  tropical  vegetation,  combined  with  the  majesty  of  the  Andes, 
in  marvellous  harmony. 

Then  came  a  season  among  the  icebergs,  in  which  he  was  again  dis- 
coverer, pioneer,  conqueror.  He  spent  the  summer  of  1859  along  the 
coast  of  Labrador,  accompanied  by  the  Rev.  Louis  L.  Noble,  whose 
admirable  book,  "After  Icebergs  with  a  Painter,"  has  rendered  any  thing 
further  wholly  unnecessary.  The  Icebergs,"  in  many  respects,  is  the 
most  remarkable  picture  which  the  artist  has  ever  painted,  and  the  finest 
work  of  the  sort  yet  attempted.  It  was  taken  to  England  for  exhibition, 
and  purchased  by  Sir  Edward  Watkins. 

In  1866  the  artist  turned  his  study  to  the  Island  of  Jamaica.  Mrs. 
Samuel  Colt  of  Hartford  owns  the  principal  painting  made  from  sketches 
on  this  trip.  The  artist's  mother  has  also  a  fine  view  of  the  island. 
Last  instead  of  first  in  the  line,  the  Old  World  came  to  his  assistance. 
His  studies  were  chiefly  of  the  scenery  and  ruins  of  Greece  and  Syria. 
"The  Parthenon,"  an  excellent  specimen  of  drawing,  he  painted  for  Morris 
K.  Jessup  of  New  York  ;  '*  Damascus  from  the  Heights  of  Salchiyeh,"  for 
Walter  Phelps  of  New  York  ;  "  Syria  by  the  Sea,"  for  James  F.  Joy,  De- 
troit ;  The  Valley  of  Santa  Isabel,"  for  John  Buckingham,  Chicago  ;  "  The 
i^^gean  Sea,"  for  William  H.  Osborn,  New  York ;  the  famous  rock-temple  of 
Arabia  Petrpea,  for  Mr.  Phelps  ;  an  admirable  view  of  Jerusalem,  for  T.  M. 
Allyn  of  Hartford  ;  "  Morning  on  the  Magdalena,"  for  William  E.  Dodge, 
jun.  His  "Journey  of  the  Pilgrim  through  the  Wilderness,"  and  "View 
of  Quebec,"  now  hang  in  the  Wadsworth  Gallery.  The  popularity  of  the 
works  of  Mr.  Church  has  also  given  incentive  to  some  of  the  greatest 
triumphs  of  the  burin  and  chromo-lithograph. 

The  home  of  the  artist  near  Rip  Van  Winkle's  bed  is  essentially  one 
of  his  works  of  art.  It  stands  opposite  Catskill,  three  miles  south  of  the 
city  of  Hudson,  on  a  hill  six  hundred  feet  above  the  river.  The  site  is 
the  result  of  a  careful  study  of  the  river-banks,  and  commands  so  many 
views  of  varied  beauty,  that  all  the  glories  of  the  Hudson  may  be  said  to 
circle  it.  No  better  spot  could  have  been  found  to  keep  fresh  in  mind  an 
intimate  knowledge  of  the  clouds  and  atmosphere.  The  designs  for  the 
building  were  prepared  by  the  artist,  assisted  by  the  architect  Mr.  Vaux. 

The  house,  more  properly  castle,  with  its  towers,  reserved  balconies, 
and  pavilions,  is  thoroughly  Persian,  provincialized  only  where  necessity 
demanded  it.    The  walls,  two  and  a  half  feet  thick,  are  of  rough  stone 


Frederick  Edwin  Church, 


quarried  on  the  spot,  of  a  bluish  tint,  changing  to  a  soft  gray  on  the  frac- 
ture. The  cut  work  is  of  light  brown  and  blue  stone :  the  upper  part  of 
the  principal  tower  is  of  red,  yellow,  and  black  brick,  arranged  in  a  unique 
pattern,  giving  the  impression  of  mosaic-work.  The  main  doorway  is  of 
light-brown  stone,  surrounded  with  mosaic  tiles.  The  principal  roofs  are 
of  red,  green,  and  black  slates,  arranged  in  appropriate  and  elaborate 
patterns,  relieved  by  a  few  gilt  slates.  The  wooden  cornices  are  painted 
in  Persian  colors,  low  and  soft,  with  an  effect  of  quiet  harmony  through- 
out. Instead  of  the  Persian  court,  a  large  hall,  cruciform,  forms  the 
centre  of  the  building,  from  which  open  the  various  rooms.  The  art- 
gallery,  with  a  ceiling  eighteen  feet  high,  is  admirably  lighted  by  four 
long  windows  on  the  north.  The  partitions  are  solid,  and  the  whole  is 
built  on  a  foundation  of  the  mountain-rock.  The  extensive-  grounds  sur- 
rounding are  in  a  constant  state  of  arrangement  under  the  direct  super- 
vision of  the  artist. 

Here  Mr.  Church  does  the  most  of  his  work,  though  he  also  has  a 
studio  in  New  York.  He  has  accomplished  some  feats  of  rapid  execution, 
but  generally  paints  slowly, — rarely  over  one  large  picture  in  a  year, 
beside  several  smaller  ones.  Five  hours  of  hard  work  before  an  easel, 
any  artist  will  admit,  is  sufificient  for  a  full  day's  work ;  but  his  inde- 
fatigable energy  often  holds  him  for  ten  hours  upon  a  canvas.  He  paints 
standing,  and  with  every  minute  progress  inspects  his  picture  from  a 
distance.  His  gait,  manner,  and  use  of  brush,  all  alike  are  indicative  of 
the  characteristic  energy  that  has  marked  his  life.  In  his  painting  he 
often  walks  between  ten  and  fifteen  miles  a  day. 

He  is  radically  a  temperate  man  in  all  things,  going  for  the  purest 
impressions,  profoundest  truths,  and  most  effective  suggestions  and 
inspiration,  to  the  source  of  all  in  nature.  Correspondingly  there  is  little 
that  can  be  considered  imaginative  in  his  work;  yet  the  suggestions  indi- 
cated in  his  touch  are  full  of  the  imaginative  element.  His  most  signal 
success  is  in  aerial  perspective.  As  a  colorist  he  is  exact,  adding  incalcu- 
lably to  the  real  worth  of  his  work.  The  local  colors  of  New  England 
never  appear  in  the  Catskills,  nor  the  texture  of  the  rocks  and  the  charac- 
teristics of  the  Catskills'  forests  in  any  other  landscape.  The  atmospheric 
condition  to  the  quality,  tone,  and  depth  of  cloud  and  sky  formations,  differ 
materially  with  locaHty.  This  distinction  is  one  of  the  greatest  victories 
of  landscape-painting. 

Mr.  Church  has  been  somewhat  impeded  in  his  work  by  a  lameness  in 
his  right  wrist ;  but  the  trouble  has  been  greatly  exaggerated  by  report. 
The  world  is  in  no  danger  of  being  deprived  by  it  of  the  cunning  of  that 
right  hand.    But  few  of  the  vicissitudes  of  the  young  artist  fell  to  his  lot. 


132 


Art  and  Artists  in  Connecticut, 


He  began  life,  in  a  sense,  a  master.  When  twenty-two  he  was  elected  an 
academician  :  and  at  the  last  meeting  of  the  executive  members  (May, 
1878)  he  was  warmly  urged  to  accept  the  vice-presidency  preparatory  to 
election  to  the  presidency  of  the  National  Academy  the  coming  year, 
when  Mr.  Huntington's  term  of  office  expires  by  limitation  ;  but  he  posi- 
tively declined. 

The  following  comments  upon  some  of  his  more  important  works  have 
been  copied  from  the  various  journals  as  credited  with  name  and  date, 
speaking  with  authority  as  eye-witnesses  and  competent  critics. 

The  New-York  Albion,  May,  1857,  said,  "  Incontestably  the  finest 
oil-picture  ever  painted  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic  is  now  on  exhibition 
on  Broadway.  It  is  a  view  of  the  great  Horseshoe  Falls  of  Niagara.  We 
congratulate  the  artist  on  his  brilliant  success." 

The  London  Times,  Aug.  7,  1857,  said,  "Few  scenes  have  been 
more  often  attempted  by  the  pencil,  and  none  have  hitherto  more  com- 
pletely laughed  it  to  scorn.  But  Mr.  Church  has  painted  this  stupendous 
cataract  with  a  quiet  courage  and  a  patient  elaboration  which  leave  us 
for  the  first  time  satisfied  that  even  this  awful  reality  is  not  beyond  the 
range  of  human  imitation." 

The  London  Athenxum,  July  18,  1857,  said,  "Mr.  Church  gives  us 
with  firmness  and  clear-sighted  precision  the  tremendous  level  rush  of 
the  great  line  of  water,  as  calmly,  and  with  terrible  calmness,  it  moves 
towards  its  grave  in  the  great  hell-pool  from  whence  the  rainbow  springs 
with  its  celestial  arch." 

The  Liverpool  Mercury,  July  16,  1858:  "Apart  from  accuracy  in 
any  minor  objects,  the  excellency  of  the  painting  is  the  artist's  wonderful 
conception  and  portrayal  of  the  mighty  waters  in  their  everlasting  turbu- 
lence, and  the  fantastic  play  and  dazzle  of  light  upon  them.  Alike  inimi- 
table and  unparalleled  are  the  rainbow,  the  rose-colored  cloud,  and  distant 
horizon." 

Of  "The  Heart  of  the  Andes,"  the  New-York  Evening  Post,  April  30, 
1859,  says,  "In  choice  of  subject,  harmony  of  color,  management  of 
detail,  &c.,  it  possesses  every  themical  merit ;  while  in  poetry,  and  gran- 
deur of  sentiment,  we  can  imagine  nothing  superior." 

Harper's  Weekly,  May  7,  1859:  "In  the  manipulation  of  this  pic- 
ture Mr.  Church  seems  to  have  bridged  the  gulf  between  the  exacti- 
tude of  the  Pre-Raphaelites  and  the  breadth  of  the  Post-Raphaelites. 
The  foreground  is  elaborated  with  a  patient  care,  a  thoughtful  detail, 
and  a  loyalty  to  nature,  that  Millais  might  envy ;  while  the  whole  scene 
has  a  vastness,  a  calmness,  and  quiet  breadth,  which  Salvator  never 
attained." 


Frederick  Edwin  Church. 


133 


T.  Buchanan  Read,  speaking  of  the  picture,  wrote  to  the  New- York 
Evening  Post,  May  7,  1859, — 

"  Here  blooms  a  world  that  fears  nor  cold  nor  drouth, 
The  lavish  luxury  of  the  teeming  South, 
The  carnival  of  summer  far  and  near, 
^        In  lands  where  summer  lords  it  all  the  year; 
And  over  all,  his  Andean  front  aglow, 
Great  Chimborazo  sits  his  throne  of  snow." 

The  Christian  Intelligencer,  June  2,  1859:  "'The  Heart  of  the 
Andes '  is  a  complete  condensation  of  South  America  into  a  single  focus 
of  magnificence." 

When  on  exhibition  in  New  York,  the  receipts  at  the  door  in  a  single 
day  amounted  to  $538 ;  and  during  the  month,  $3,172. 

The  London  Daily  News,  July  4,  1859:  "The  Pre-Raphaelite  minute- 
ness and  self-evident  accuracy  of  the  foreground,  and  the  broadly  general- 
ized, delicately  graduated,  and  atmospheric  distance  of  this  picture,  prove 
that  the  artist  unites  almost  a  contrariety  of  gifts.  The  breadth  and 
finish  are  almost  perfectly  harmonized." 

The  London  Morning  Post,  July  7,  1859:  "It  bespeaks  not  only  the 
painter's  skill  of  hand,  but  the  poet's  sympathetic  appreciation  of  the  spirit 
and  sentiment  of  scene ;  and  it  conveys  to  the  spectator  at  a  single  glance 
a  more  faithful  idea  of  the  romantic  charm  of  mountain  solitudes  than 
could  be  derived  from  the  perusal  of  whole  chapters  of  written  descrip- 
tion." 

The  London  Literary  Gazette,  July  7,  1859,  says,  "The  feeling  will 
be  one  of  surprise  at  the  artist-like  knowledge  and  themical  mastery  which 
the  picture  almost  everywhere  displays." 

The  Art  Journal,  October,  1859,  says,  "Here  is  obviously  one  of 
those  mental  mirrors  of  a  rare  brightness  which  have  literally  the  power 
to  fix  and  transfer  their  affections  ;  manifestly  a  gaze  of  extraordinary 
clearness  and  vigilance,  a  gifted  hand  swift  to  follow  it  with  graceful 
strength  and  likeness,  a  tender  and  capacious  spirit  which  unites  harmo- 
niously the  minute  and  the  vast,  the  delicate  and  the  forcible,  the  defiant 
and  the  mysterious,  and  can  reduce  multitude  and  diversity  to  simplicity 
and  order  under  the  sweet  sovereignty  of  beauty." 

The  New-York  Herald,  Dec.  5,  1859,  says,  "From  the  exhibition 
of  Church's  great  picture,  *  The  Heart  of  the  Andes,'  may  be  dated  the 
mauguration  of  a  new  art -epoch.  That  extraordinary  picture  may  be 
said  to  embody  all  the  peculiarities  and  excellences  which  have  given  the 
stamp  of  originality  to  American  art." 

Of  "The  Icebergs,"  the  New -York  Tribune,  April  24,  1861,  says. 


134 


Art  and  Artists  in  Co7inecticut. 


"  It  is  an  absolutely  wonderful  picture,  —  a  work  of  genius  that  illustrates 
the  time  and  the  country  producing  it.  Its  idea  is  grand,  and  the  artist 
hand  that  has  put  it  upon  canvas  is  worthy  of  the  artist  mind  that  con- 
ceived it." 

This  picture  was  first  exhibited  in  New  York  at  the  outbreak  of  the 
war,  and  with  true  loyalty  the  proceeds  were  contributed  to  the  "patriot 
fund"  just  forming. 

The  London  Morning  Star,  June  22,  1863:  ''We  can  believe  that  a 
truer  picture  was  never  painted." 

The  London  Post :  "  Church  is  a  delicate  and  accurate  draughts- 
man, a  patient  student  of  Nature  under  her  most  difficult  and  perplexing 
aspects,  a  pure  and  brilliant  colorist,  and  a  master  of  that  supreme  art  of 
composition  which  can  never  be  taught,  and  never  be  acquired." 

"The  Heart  of  the  Andes"  is  at  present  owned  by  David  Dows  of 
New  York,  who  bought  it  privately  before  the  auction-sale  of  a  collection 
containing  it.  The  "  Niagara  "  was  bought  by  the  Corcoran  Gallery,  for 
twelve  thousand  five  hundred  dollars,  in  the  auction -sale  of  the  John 
Taylor  Johnson  collection.  This,  considering  price  and  purchaser,  was 
the  rarest  compliment  that  could  have  been  paid  to  the  artist  and  his 
work.  "The  Parthenon,"  painted  for  Morris  K.  Jessup,  and  "Morning 
in  the  Tropics,"  a  large,  exquisite,  and  grand  scene,  owned  by  William 
E.  Dodge,  jun.,  have  gone  to  Paris  for  the  present  exposition.  "Jeru- 
salem," "Jamaica,"  "The  New-England  Autumn,"  "The  Pilgrim  in  the 
Wilderness,"  beside  many  smaller  views,  are  owned  in  Hartford.  "The 
/Egean  Sea,"  another  picture  that  is  highly  praised  by  those  who  have 
seen  it,  is  owned  by  W.  H.  Osborn,  New  York. 

Mr.  Church  is  as  actively  and  enthusiastically  engaged  in  art  to-day 
as  ever  in  his  life.  He  occasionally  paints  a  little  in  New  York,  but 
generally  at  his  home,  being  one  of  the  few,  whether  in  art  or  other 
professions,  who,  being  all  in  all  within  themselves,  are  able  to  sever 
themselves  from  the  busy  whirl  of  life,  from  which  one  borrows  life. 
May  it  bo  long  before  that  right  hand  is  still,  and  the  world  presented 
with  its  last  picture  from  Connecticut's  gifted  son  ! 

WALES  HOTCHKISS. 

Wales  Hotchkiss,  born  in  Bethany,  Conn.,  1826,  studied  portrait- 
painting  first  under  George  W.  Flagg  in  New  Haven,  and  in  1843  went 
with  him  to  New  York.  As  a  boy,  a  passion  for  drawing  heads  had  led 
him,  among  other  adventures,  to  arrange  all  of  the  dignitaries  of  the 
church  on  the  margins  of  the  hymn-books.    His  first  work  in  oil  was  an 


Charles  Hine. 


135 


experiment  in  house-paint,  with  his  brother  for  model.  The  success  was 
so  great,  that  his  parents  reluctantly  yielded  to  his  ambition  to  become  a 
portrait-painter.  A  serious  accident  while  yachting  so  much  impaired  his 
health,  that  his  work  in  art  has  been  at  times  materially  hindered.  After 
completing  his  study,  he  returned  to  New  Haven.     His  forte  is  in 


WALES  HOTCHKISS. 


water-color.  He  has  also  painted  portraits  and  historical  pieces  in  oil, 
that  have  been  criticised  as  possessing  force,  energy,  a  good  eye  for  color, 
and  originality.  Nine  years  ago  the  artist  moved  to  Northampton,  where 
he  still  resides. 

CHARLES  HINE. 

An  intimate  friend  of  Wales  Hotchkiss,  Charles  Hine,  born  in  the 
same  town  (Bethany),  and  a  year  later  (1827),  was  brought  while  a  boy 
to  New  Haven.  When  fifteen  he  began  his  study  of  art,  first  under 
George  W.  Flagg ;  then  in  Hartford,  under  his  brother  Jared  B.  Flagg. 
He  painted  for  two  years  in  Derby,  returning  in  1846  to  New  Haven  for 
ten  years,  during  which  time  he  was  fully  occupied  on  head  and  figure 
pieces,  and  found  his  work  eagerly  sought  after.  In  1857  he  moved  to 
New  York.  His  masterpiece  was  a  nude  figure  entitled  ''Sleep,"  the 
result  of  two  years  of  labor,  and  commented  upon  by  critics  as  the  finest 
work  of  the  kind  ever  attempted  in  America.  He  inherited  consumption 
from  his  mother,  and  very  early  in  his  career  it  began  its  inroads.  At 


136 


Art  and  Artists  iii  Co7inecticut. 


last,  unable  to  work  longer  in  his  studio,  he  returned  to  New  Haven,  and 
for  some  time  painted  fancy  pieces  while  lying  on  his  back.  N.  D. 
Sperry  of  New  Haven  has  the  last  work  of  the  artist,  "A  String  of 
Pearls,"  a  charming  little  boudoir-scene,  in  which  the  lace  and  silk  costume 
of  a  finely-drawn  female  figure,  as  well  as  the  string  of  pearls  she  is 
arranging  about  her  neck,  arc  admirably  painted.  Mr.  Hine  died  July 
29,  1 87 1,  having  left  the  possibilities  of  his  life  evidently  far  from  realized, 
but  having  made  much  of  each  opportunity  as  it  was  offered  him. 

ADALBERT  WUXDER. 

In  1855  a  German  artist  named  Adalbert  Wunder  set  up  his  easel  in 
Hartford,  remaining  until  1869.  He  was  born  in  Berlin  Feb.  5,  1827. 
\\1ien  sixteen  he  began  a  three-years'  course  of  study  in  the  Royal 
Academy  of  Design,  and  private  instruction  under  Professor  Herbig,  and 
for  two  years  thereafter  in  the  Dresden  Academy.  He  painted  some 
portraits  in  oil  ;  but  crayon  and  India-ink  heads  were  his  specialties,  in 
which  he  gained  an  important  local  reputation.  He  worked  with  great 
rapidity  and  much  skill.  One  of  his  finest  pieces  was  a  pastel  head  of 
Mr.  Bryant,  which  was  unfortunately  destroyed  by  some  of  that  artist's 
l)upils,  who,  overcome  by  a  sudden  desire  to  make  a  neat,  orderly  room  of 
his  studio  during  his  absence,  carefully  dusted  the  pastel  head  among 
other  things.  Mr.  Wunder  was  a  public-spirited  man,  ready  to  engage  in 
any  undertaking  that  might  promote  a  sympathy  for  art.  He  is  now 
painting  in  Hamilton,  Ontario. 

GEORGE  F.  BOTTUME. 

A  portrait-painter  well  known  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  State, 
George  Y.  Bottume,  was  born  in  Baltic,  Conn.,  July,  1828.  It  was  a 
common  acceptation  among  the  "  country-folk,"  that  George  Bottume  was 
"cut  out"  for  a  painter;  and  at  thirteen  he  went  to  New  York  to  study. 
The  first  three  years  he  was  obliged  to  spend  under  Albertson,  a 
sign-painter  born  in  Norwich  in  1808,  where  he  died  March  27,  1846. 
Bottume  then  studied  for  a  year  under  Solomon  Fanning,  and  opened  a 
studio  in  Norwich.  At  the  end  of  two  years,  there  being  already  several 
portrait-painters  in  Norwich,  he  left  the  city,  and  has  since  continued 
portrait-painting  in  many  localities,  arriving  at  last  in  Springfield,  Mass., 
where  he  still  resides.  His  work  is  chiefly  portraiture,  though  he  has 
also  produced  some  landscapes.  His  colors  are  warm,  his  style  easy,  his 
likenesses  in  portraits  good.    He  paints  rapidly,  having  nearly  completed 


George  F.  Wright,  —  James  M,  Hart. 


137 


some  of  his  best  pictures  in  a  single  day ;  which  of  itself,  probably,  has  a 
tendency  to  make  an  artist  less  careful  for  his  reputation  and  his  purse. 

GEORGE  F.  WRIGHT. 

Among  the  leading  men  in  portraiture,  emanating  from  Connecticut, 
is  George  F.  Wright,  born  in  Washington,  Conn.,  Dec.  19,  1828.  As  a 
lad  he  was  placed  in  preparation  for  a  classical  education  under  the  Rev. 
Isaac  Jones  of  Litchfield.  He  entered  a  studio  when  a  boy,  with  an 
attempt  at  painting  for  a  criticism.  "  Are  you  an  artist }  "  inquired  the 
painter.  ''No,  sir;  but  I  am  going  to  be,"  was  the  prophetic  reply.  He 
settled  first  in  Wallingford,  and  in  May,  1847,  succeeded  Mr.  Bartholomew 
as  custodian  of  the  Wadsworth  Athenaeum  Gallery.  The  following  year 
he  studied  in  the  life-school  at  the  National  Academy,  and,  returning  to 
Hartford,  painted  portraits  very  acceptably  for  five  years ;  after  which  he 
spent  two  years  abroad,  —  in  Germany  under  Professor  Graeflei,  court- 
painter  of  Baden,  and  a  summer  in  Rome.  Returning,  he  has  painted  in 
many  Southern  and  Western  cities,  but  principally  in  Hartford.  He 
painted  many  of  the  governors  of  Illinois,  and  many  of  Connecticut.  His 
work  is  remarkable  for  its  power,  its  natural  flesh-tints,  its  accuracy  of 
likeness.  Portraits  of  T.  K.  Brace  and  the  last  Gov.  Trumbull  are  among 
his  best  work.  Charles  L.  Elliott  remarked  at  an  academy  exhibition, 
pointing  to  one  of  Mr.  Wright's  heads,  "  I  have  much  cause  to  fear  that 
man."  Few  men  have  possessed  the  genius,  and  given  the  promise, 
of  George  F.  Wright ;  but  his  life  has  been  one  of  varied  experiences, 
in  which,  while  he  has  done  much  masterly  work,  he  has  apparently 
failed  to  recognize  his  own  talent. 

JAMES  M.  HART. 

By  very  good  fortune  to  the  State,  and  (may  it  not  be  taken  amiss)  by 
very  good  fortune  to  the  artist  too,  James  M.  Hart,  the  popular  landscape 
and  rising  cattle  painter  of  America,  was  tempted,  thirteen  years  ago, 
under  the  soUcitation  of  President  Porter  and  others,  to  test  the  beautiful 
mysteries  of  the  Connecticut  Valley  about  Farmington,  first  in  1865,  and 
again  two  years  later.  One  of  the  results  has  been  some  of  the  finest 
specimens  of  the  artist's  work  ;  another  was  the  accomplishment  of  a 
life-partnership  with  a  lady  who  was  at  the  time  sketching  in  the  Farm- 
ington Valley.  A  view  of  the  river  near  Farmington  was  contributed 
by  Mr.  Hart  to  the  Paris  Exposition  of  1867.  The  London  Athenaeum 
critic,  after  speaking  of  the  works  of  Cropsey,  Bierstadt,  and  others,  wrote 


138 


Art  and  Artists  iii  Connecticut. 


of  this  picture,  "  Better  in  painting  and  finer  in  sentiment  than  these  is 
Mr.  James  M.  Hart's  *  River  Tunxis  in  Connecticut,'"  &c.  His  famous 
picture,  "  Peaceful  Homes,"  and  several  later  works  of  great  popularity, 
also  hail  from  Farmington  and  thereabout. 

The  artist  was  born  in  Kilmarnock,  Scotland,  in  1828.  His  first  taste 
of  art  came  with  the  proverbially  art-suggestive  drudgery  of  the  carriage- 
shop.  After  studying  for  a  year  under  Schirmer  in  Diisseldorf,  he  estab- 
lished himself  in  Albany,  N.Y. ;  five  years  later  moving  to  New-York  City, 
where  he  has  since  remained,  enjoying  very  high  popularity.  He  was 
made  an  academician  in  1859,  '^^'^^     ^^""^  most  enthusiastic  laborers 

for  the  advancement  of  art  to  be  found  in  the  country.  While  Connecti- 
cut can  lay  no  claim  upon  him,  she  is  certainly  entitled  to  share  in  con- 
gratulation ui)on  his  brilliant  career. 

ALBERT  F.  BELLOWS. 

Another  instance  with  the  ]M-cccding  is  that  of  Albert  F.  Bellows, 
born  in  Milford,  Mass.,  1829.  Though  an  artist  from  the  cradle,  his 
father  endeavored  to  strike  a  bargain  with  imperious  Nature  by  securing 


ALBERT  F.  BELLOWS. 


him  a  position  as  pupil  under  A.  B.  Young,  the  distinguished  architect 
of  Boston.  But,  in  spite  of  architecture,  he  was  bound  to  be  a  painter. 
After  three  years  of  this  pupilage  when  twenty  years  old,  he  graduated, 


THE    DROVE    AT   THE    FORD,"   BY   J.   M.  HART, 
OWNED    BY    THE    CORCORAIST  GALLERY. 


Albert  F.  Bellows. 


139 


and  formed  a  partnership  with  J.  D.  Toule,  an  estabHshed  architect,  to 
do  the  artistic  designing,  while  Mr.  Toule  attended  to  the  construction. 
Success  was  not  wanting ;  but  satisfaction  was.  At  the  end  of  his  first 
year  he  gave  up  resistance,  and  surrendered  himself  to  the  prompting  of 
his  love  of  painting,  and  soon  became  principal  of  the  New-England 
School  of  Design.  When  twenty-seven  he  resigned  the  position,  and, 
after  a  careful  study  of  art  in  the  first  Paris  Exposition,  became  a  pupil  in 
the  Royal  Academy  of  Art  in  Antwerp,  of  which  he  was  afterward  made 
an  honorary  member.  He  established  himself  in  New  York  as  portrait 
and  figure  painter,  and  in  1857  was  made  an  academician.  He  gradually 
withdrew  partially  from  figure  -  painting  in  favor  of  landscapes ;  but  a 


"a  CONNECTICUT  HOMESTEAD."  —  THE  REVOLUTIONARY  ELMS  OF  EAST  HARTFORD,  BY  A.  F.  BELLOWS. 

popular  characteristic  of  his  work  has  become  his  combination  of  figure- 
life  with  landscape.  On  the  revival  of  water-color  painting  in  America 
Mr.  Bellows  was  found  among  the  first,  and  has  become  one  of  its  most 
powerful  supporters.  At  present  his  studies  are  all  made  in  water-color. 
The  artist's  principal  work  in  Connecticut,  and  in  some  respects  the  prin- 
cipal work  of  his  life  thus  far,  is  a  series  prepared  and  completed  in 
Windsor — "Life's  Day,  or  Three  Times  across  the  River" — in  i860. 
The  pictures,  three  in  number,  represent  the  same  scene  —  the  river  oppo- 
site Windsor  —  in  spring,  summer,  and  winter.  In  the  first,  parents  are 
rowing  a  baby  across  the  river  to  the  village  church  for  baptism.  In  the 
second  the  bride  stands  in  the  boat,  and  the  spire  rises  above  the  branches 
on  the  opposite  shore.    In  the  last  the  river  is  frozen  ;  the  trees  are  loaded 


140 


Art  and  Artists  in  Connecticut. 


with  snow:  the  moon,  just  rising,  lights  the  path  across  the  ice  for  a 
slowly-moving  funeral-procession,  and  touches  the  church-spire  with  light 
as  if  it  were  a  beacon  to  signal  the  way  to  God's  Acre.  Every  figure  of 
the  various  groups  is  modelled  from  life. 

Edwin  Forrest  bought  these  pictures  ;  and,  in  the  bestowal  of  his 
estate,  they  went  to  the  Forrest  Home  for  Actors.  Engravings  of  the 
three  are  owned  by  many  in  Windsor,  Hartford,  and  elsewhere. 

Since  that  time  nearly  all  of  Mr.  Bellows's  important  sketching  trips  in 
America  have  been  in  Connecticut.  A  characteristic  choice  is  from  the 
old  towns  and  villages,  old  streets,  and  old  houses,  of  old-time  New  Eng- 
land. Among  his  latest  and  best  works  in  water-color  is  the  old  East- 
Hartford  Street,  including  the  centenarian  gable-roofed  homestead  and 
the  Revolutionary  elms.  This  piece  is  one  of  two  by  Mr.  Bellows  exhib- 
ited in  the  present  Paris  Exposition. 

WILLIAM   RODLRICK  LAWREN'CE. 

A  young  man  of  peculiarly  interesting  artistic  ability,  very  little 
exerted,  however,  in  a  professional  way,  W.  R.  Lawrence,  was  born 
March  3,  1829;  and  died  of  inherited  consumption,  Oct.  9,  1856.  He 
spent  his  entire  Hfe  in  Hartford,  except  during  a  few  months  of  study  in 
New  York.  When  only  four  years  old,  motives  of  art  were  demonstrated 
in  the  skill  with  which  he  ch-ew  an  elL']:)liant  which  was  passing  the  window 
with  a  menagerie.  In  accordance  with  his  father's  wishes,  he  obtained  a 
medical  education,  though  he  never  practised  the  profession.  He  was  a 
devoted  student  of  natural  history,  and  it  was  from  drawing  and  coloring 
bugs  and  insects  that  he  finally  found  for  himself  a  place  in  art.  He 
was  very  near-sighted,  which  accounts  for  the  lack  of  color-effect  in  his 
pictures  ;  otherwise  there  is  much  that  is  artistic  about  them.  During  the 
winters  of  1848  and  1849  he  studied  in  the  National  Academy.  He  was 
also  a  poet  of  fine  feeling  and  elegant  expression,  and  much  before  his 
age  in  an  extravagant  delight  in  collecting  ancient  pottery.  He  was  for 
some  time  secretary  of  the  Natural-History  Society,  of  which  the  well- 
known  Deacon  Turner  was  president.  His  most  important  work  was 
the  complete  illustration  of  a  large  medical  treatise  on  the  circulation 
of  the  blood.  He  also  illustrated  Mrs.  Sigourney's  Poems  of  the  Sea." 
After  his  death  Mrs.  Sigourney  wrote  a  beautiful  memorial  poem,  which 
was  extensively  published,  appearing  first  in  "The  New- York  Ledger" 
Oct.  II,  1856.  His  paintings  were  all  of  a  peculiarly  imaginative  ten- 
dency, carefully  drawn.  There  are  two  of  them  in  the  Wadsworth  Gal- 
lery, —   The  Royal  Children,"  and     Napoleon  at  Waterloo."     He  was 


Job  B.  Spencer.  —  Benj.  F,  Elliott. —  Wm.  Oliver  Stone.  141 


extremely  fond  of  children,  often  using  them  as  models  for  his  work.  His 
life  was  a  smooth  current,  his  death  a  quiet  close. 

JOB  B.  SPENCER. 

A  painter  of  fruits,  flowers,  and  animals.  Job  B.  Spencer,  born  in 
Salisbury,  Conn.,  1829,  was  educated  a  house-painter.  After  accumulating 
a  reserve-fund,  and  in  a  few  rough  sketches  testing  the  probability  of  his 
accomplishing  feats  in  higher  art,  he  went  to  New  York  and  studied  for 
two  years  ;  then  settled  in  Scranton,  Penn.,  where  his  reputation  stands 
well  among  local  artists.  Several  of  his  pictures  are  owned  in  Salisbury. 
He  is  a  somewhat  eccentric  man,  with  a  keen  sense  of  the  ridiculous. 

BENJAMIN  F.  ELLIOTT. 

The  landscape  and  portrait  painter  of  Middletown,  B.  F.  Elliott,  was 
born  in  that  city  Sept.  26,  1829;  and  died  there  Sept.  6,  1870.  His 
opportunities  were  limited  for  gaining  instruction  ;  but  in  i860  he  opened 
a  studio,  producing  work  that  disclosed  a  conscientious,  painstaking  artist. 
He  worked  for  a  year  upon  portraits  for  Kellogg  Brothers  in  Hartford. 
He  was  quiet,  reserved,  and  utterly  unable  to  thrust  his  own  work  forward 
in  a  way  that  would  bring  it  before  the  public. 

WILLIAM  OLIVER  STONE. 

The  well-known  portrait-painter,  William  O.  Stone,  was  born  in  Derby, 
Conn.,  in  1830.  Very  early  in  life  he  determined  to  become  a  painter. 
For  this  resolve  ample  promise  gave  the  best  authority,  and  following 
success  was  an  unqualified  verdict.  As  is  too  often  the  case,  many  hard 
battles  were  fought  before,  at  the  age  of  eighteen,  he  was  allowed  to  place 
himself  under  Nathaniel  Jocelyn  of  New  Haven  to  study  art.  He  lost 
all  of  his  previous  studies  and  work  in  the  fire  which  destroyed  Mr. 
Jocelyn's  studio  in  1849,  ^i^^  in  1851  moved  to  New  York  virtually  to 
begin  life. 

Here  he  rose  very  rapidly  both  as  an  artist,  and  in  the  estimation  of 
many  friends ;  for,  though  he  never  married,  Mr.  Stone  was  always  popular 
in  a  very  large  circle.  As  a  critic  his  opinion  stood  high  in  New  York. 
Perhaps  he  was  too  popular,  and  too  fond  of  society,  to  fulfil  the  vast  pos- 
sibilities that  lay  before  his  youth  :  certainly  he  had  not  developed  all  of 
his  power  when  he  died  (at  Newport,  R.I.,  Sept.  15,  1875),  though  no  one 
would  deny  him  a  place  among  the  first  artists  of  America.    In  1859 


142 


Art  and  Artists  in  Connecticut, 


became  an  academician  of  the  National  Academy,  and  in  1863  was  elected  a 
member  of  the  Century  Club  ;  in  both  of  which  he  filled  important  offices, 
and  was  thoroughly  respected.    He  was  remarkably  kind-hearted,  and  his 


gentleness  and  sweetness  of  character  were  imparted  to  all  his  work.  He 
followed  portraiture  throughout  his  life,  achieving  especial  success  in 
female  heads  and  children's  portraits. 


The  distinguished  portrait  and  figure  painter  H.  A.  Loop,  besides 
passing  several  summers  in  New  Haven,  and  many  in  Lakeville,  Litchfield 
County,  Conn.,  has  connected  his  name  with  Connecticut's  art,  in  being 
the  instructor,  and  becoming  the  husband,  of  the  pride  of  the  State  among 
female  artists,  — Miss  Harrison  of  New  Haven.  Very  much  might  justly 
be  said  of  Mr.  Loop ;  but  yielding  the  pleasure  to  the  necessity  of  brevity 
in  all  these  sketches,  chiefly  those  not  of  native  Connecticut  artists,  sim- 
ply the  outline  of  the  life  that  has  led  him  to  his  present  success  will  be 
inserted.  He  was  born  in  Hillsdale,  Columbia  County,  N.Y.,  in  183 1, 
and  in  1841  went  to  Great  Barrington,  Mass.,  to  school.  At  the  age  of  six- 
teen he  entered  a  clerkship  there,  and  for  three  years  endeavored  to  fight 
against  the  ambition  to  appear  in  the  field  of  art.  When  nineteen  he  entered 
the  studio  of  Henry  Peters  Gray,  where  he  remained  a  year,  and,  after 
some  preliminary  practice  in  painting  portraits  and  landscapes,  opened 


WILLIAM  OLIVER  STONE. 


HENRY  A.  LOOP. 


AENONE."    AN    ACADEMY    PAINTING.    BY    HENRY    A.  LOOP. 


W.  R.  Wheeler. 


143 


a  studio  in  New  York.  Six  years  later  he  sailed  for  Paris,  and  entered 
the  atelier  of  Couture.  There  he  studied  a  year,  and  spent  another  year 
in  Florence  and  Rome,  studying  from  life,  and  painting  a  few  original 
pictures.  After  returning  to  America  he  resumed  portrait -painting, 
relieving  the  monotony  with  an  occasional  original  figure-piece.  In  1867 
with  his  wife  and  daughter  he  again  crossed  the  ocean,  visiting  Paris, 
Rome,  Perugia,  and  Venice,  and  remaining  abroad  two  years.  During  this 
time  he  painted  but  one  portrait,  —  that  of  Judge  Skinner  of  Buffalo, — 
but  produced  several  fine  original  works,  and  made  several  excellent 
copies.  Thus  educated,  he  has  been  prepared  to  exert  a  favorable  influ- 
ence for  art  wherever  he  should  choose  his  field  of  labor;  and  it  is  fortu- 
nate \f  or  Connecticut  that  the  choice  for  summer -work  has  been  that 
State. 

Mr.  Loop's  work  is  characteristic  for  warmth  of  color,  broad  and  simple 
treatment,  and  great  refinement  and  delicacy,  especially  in  the  representa- 
tion of  the  nude  figures  which  he  has  lately  undertaken  with  a  success 
unrivalled  in  America.  As  a  draughtsman  he  stands  very  high  :  his  con- 
ceptions and  general  designs  are  exceptionally  fine.  In  1861  he  was  made 
an  academician,  and  in  1863  elected  a  member  of  the  Century  Club. 

W.   R.  WHEELER. 

The  portrait-painter  W.  R.  Wheeler,  for  seventeen  years  established  in 
Hartford,  was  born  in  Michigan  (Scio,  Washington  County),  1832,  whither 
his  father  had  gone  from  Middletown,  Conn.,  his  native  place,  in  1830. 
Art  had  been  a  strong  incentive  evident  in  the  life  of  his  aunt  Lydia  W. 
Pierson,  and  also  in  the  life  of  his  father.  To  encouragement,  instead  of 
rebuke,  Mr.  Wheeler  owes  much  of  his  early  success.  His  first  lessons 
were  received  from  an  itinerant  miniature-portrait  painter.;  and  at  the 
age  of  fifteen  he  entered  the  field,  working  at  very  low  prices,  boarding 
where  he  painted,  and  saving  every  thing,  till  three  years  later  he  was 
able  to  study  in  Detroit  for  a  year  under  Professor  Bradish,  art-teacher 
in  the  Detroit  University.  In  1855  Mr.  Wheeler  was  married,  and 
moved  to  Hartford.  His  success  has  held  him  in  that  city,  without 
change.  His  peculiar  forte  is  with  children's  faces,  of  which  he  has 
probably  painted  more  than  any  other  artist  who  ever  worked  in  the 
city.  His  heads  are  well  modelled,  good  likenesses,  and  pleasing  in 
color. 

Though  portrait-painting  has  been  a  branch  to  which  he  has  devoted 
his  life,  he  has.  within  a  few  years  made  some  very  successful  experiments 
in  landscape-studies. 


144 


Art  and  Artists  i7t  Connecticut, 


A.   D.  SHATTUCK. 

Ten  years  ago  (in  1868)  one  of  the  most  careful  of  American  pastoral- 
painters  came  with  his  family  to  Granby,  Conn.,  and  two  years  afterward 
bought  himself  a  farm  of  twenty-eight  acres  there,  where  he  keeps  much 
of  the  excellent  stock  that  from  time  to  time  appears  in  his  pictures.  He 
was  born  in  Francestown,  N.H.,  March  6,  1832,  and  educated  in  art  under 
Alexander  Ransom  and  at  the  National  Academy,  of  which  he  was  made 
an  academician  in  1861. 

Many  of  his  best  pieces  are  from  studies  made  about  his  farm  and 


"a  study  of  sheep."  —  BY  A.  D.  SHATTUCK. 


through  the  State.  A  large  landscape  by  him,  Sunday  Morning  in  New 
England,"  has  gained  almost  unqualified  praise.  The  work  is  emphati- 
cally well  executed,  fitly  and  naturally  expressing  the  subject.  It  is  direct, 
simple,  and  truthful,  without  attempt  to  surprise  by  novel  effects,  or  feats 
of  elaborate  realism.  The  pleasure  it  gives  the  beholder  is  through  its  sim- 
plicity, and  fidelity  to  nature,  —  a  pleasure  which  is  sure  to  be  enduring. 

The  artist  is  a  faithful  student  of  his  art,  and  at  present  makes  a 
specialty  of  sheep  and  cows,  where  he  excels  many,  and  is  excelled  by  few. 
He  is  a  thorough,  affable  gentleman,  and  may  well  be  considered  a  valuable 
acquisition  to  Connecticut.    Mr.  Tuckerman  gives  an  elaborate  sketch. 


Truman  Howe  Bartlett.  —  John  L.  Fitch. 


145 


TRUMAN  HOWE  BARTLETT. 

T.  H.  Bartlett,  born  in  the  town  of  Dorset,  Bennington  County,  Vt., 
in  1836,  to  all  intents  upon  a  marble-quarry,  when  nineteen  learned  the 
trade  of  a  stone-cutter,  and  is  now  located  in  Paris.  He  has  received 
orders  from  several  sources  in  Connecticut  for  monumental  work  and  some 
bronze  pieces.  Reworked  in  Waterbury  in  1862,  in  New  Haven  in  1863 
and  after,  leaving  America  in  1867.  In  Waterbury  the  Benedict  monu- 
ment, in  Hartford  the  statue  of  Dr.  Wells,  are  among  his  works. 

JOHN   L.  FITCH. 

The  forest-painter,  John  L.  Fitch,  was  born  in  Hartford  in  1836.  He 
began  the  study  of  art  under  Julius  Busch,  and  later  studied  under  George 
F.  Wright  in  Hartford,  preparatory  to  sailing  for  Europe  in  1855,  where 
for  three  years  he  studied  drawing  in  Munich,  and  painting  for  one  year 
in  Milan  under  the  three  Zimmermanns,  —  Professor  Albert,  Richard,  and 
Max.  He  painted  in  Hartford  from  1859  1866.  Immediately  on  his  re- 
turn his  work  followed  closely  after  his  masters,  which  was  not  a  style  pop- 
ular in  America ;  but  gradually  he  has  dropped  the  objectionable  features 
of  the  Zimmermanns,  retaining  their  excellences  with  great  refinement  in 
detail,  and  depth  of  feeling,  which  render  his  studies  of  the  gnarled  forest- 
trees,  the  rocks  and  wild  ravines,  exceedingly  interesting  and  artistic. 
In  1866  he  moved  to  New  York,  and  has  since  remained  there,  with  the 
exception  of  a  short  trip  to  Germany  in  187 1.  In  1867  he  was  elected  a 
member  of  the  Century  Club,  and  now  (in  1878)  for  the  fifth  time  holds 
the  position  of  chairman  of  the  Art  Committee.  In  the  fall  of  1877  the 
artist  distinguished  himself  in  a  new  direction  by  saving  the  valuable 
collection  of  art  in  the  rooms  of  the  Century  Club  from  destruction  by 
fire,  through  characteristic  energy  that  called  forth  a  graceful  vote  of 
thanks.  Mr.  Fitch  is  also  an  associate  of  the  National  Academy,  and 
a  member  of  the  Artists'  Fund  Society.  He  is  a  man  of  very  refined 
tastes  in  art,  and  within  a  few  years  his  work  has  rapidly  improved  toward 
the  making  of  a  masterly  picture  from  his  exceedingly  fine  studies.  His 
field  is  somewhat  limited,  except  as  he  has  several  times  very  successfully 
attempted  the  introduction  of  water-scenes ;  one  of  the  finest  pieces  of 
his  painting  being  Twilight  on  John's  Brook,"  an  admirable,  quiet  even- 
ing view,  well  hung  in  the  fifty-third  annual  exhibition  of  the  National 
Academy.  There  is  certainly  that  spirit  in  all  of  his  work  which  must 
retain  for  him  a  lasting  name  in  art.  Mrs.  Samuel  Colt  of  Hartford  has 
one  of  his  finer  pieces  in  her  gallery. 


146 


Art  and  Artists  in  Connecticut, 


CHARLES  AKERS. 

Charles  Akers,  born  in  Maine  Oct.  15,  1836,  the  sculptor  and  crayon 
artist,  at  present  established  in  New  York,  in  i860,  1869,  and  1875  occu- 
pied a  studio  in  Waterbury,  Conn.,  making  crayon  heads  and  marble  busts 
which  were  both  artistic  and  popular.  He  is  an  artist  of  much  merit,  and 
an  elegant  writer. 

OTTO  KESSLER. 

A  German  artist  named  Otto  Kessler  gained  considerable  celebrity  in 
Connecticut  from  1863  to  1865.  He  was  born  in  Berlin  in  1837,  and  was 
a  pupil  of  Wilhelm  Kohner,  whom  he  subsequently  followed  to  Hartford. 
His  wife,  an  American  lady  of  unusual  dignity,  persuaded  him  to  seek 
another  field  in  October,  1865.  He  painted  rapidly,  often  finishing  a 
life-size  bust  in  oil  in  a  single  day.  He  worked  largely  through  the  Jew- 
ish population,  and  received  good  prices.  But  Otto  Kessler  loved  the 
wine-glass  better  than  his  wife  or  art,  and  neither  was  able  to  hold  him 
in  restraint.  He  has  now  returned  to  Berlin,  where  his  mother  is  still 
living. 

GEORGE  EDWARD  CANDEE. 

G.  E.  Candee,  a  resident  artist  of  New  Haven,  was  born  there  Dec. 
24,  1838.  He  met  with  much  opposition  to  his  desire  to  study  art,  but 
was  at  last  allowed  to  hire  himself  to  an  ornamental  painter.  This  was 
followed  by  a  few  lessons  from  Joseph  Kyle,  a  portrait-painter.  This, 
with  about  as  many  lessons  in  water-color,  constituted  his  entire  instruc- 
tion. His  first  independent  endeavor  in  art  was  as  a  water-colorist ;  but 
the  lack  of  popularity  of  water-color  work  induced  him  to  connect  with 
it  portrait-painting,  while  by  himself  he  proceeded  to  study  both.  This 
course  he  changed  in  time,  giving  his  chief  attention  to  fruit  and  flower 
pieces.  In  1865  he  moved  to  New  York,  remaining  a  year,  and  in  1870 
sailed  for  Europe,  spending  a  winter  in  Rome,  and  summer  in  Perugia. 
Most  of  his  work  is  owned  in  New  Haven,  including  several  foreign  land- 
scapes in  water-color  and  oil,  and  some  very  acceptable  figure-pieces. 

R.   M.  SHURTLEFF. 

From  1869  to  1875  R.  M.  Shurtleff  occupied  a  studio  in  Hartford. 
He  was  born  in  Rindge,  N.H.,  1838  ;  and,  before  he  was  able  to  read,  his 
pictures  were  the  pride  of  the  family.  Later,  however,  he  found  much 
objection  to  his  becoming  an  artist,  and  when  twenty-one  had  not  seen  a 


Harry  Ives  Thompson, 


147 


picture  of  any  merit.  In  1859  he  began  drawing  on  wood  for  engravers, 
studying  evenings  in  the  Lowell  Institute,  and  designing  for  several  illus- 
trated magazines.  In  1861  he  joined  the  New-York  Ninty-ninth  Regi- 
ment, with  which  he  was  the  first  Northern  officer  wounded  and  captured 
in  an  engagement.  In  1869  he  came  to  Hartford  and  began  designing 
for  the  American  Publishing  Company,  at  the  same  time  taking  up  work 
in  color.  He  is  strictly  a  landscape-painter,  but  characteristically  intro- 
duces animal-life  with  marked  ability,  catching  motion  with  particular 
success.  He  is  also  rapidly  becoming  a  strong  water-color  painter.  Dur- 
ing his  stay  in  Hartford  he  was  actively  connected  with  the  Hartford  Art 
Association. 

HARRY  IVES  THOMPSON. 

H.  I.  Thompson,  at  present  successfully  established  in  New  Haven 
as  portrait  and  figure  painter,  was  born  in  West  Haven  Jan.  31,  1840. 


"library-scene." — A  STUDY  BY  H.  I.  THOMPSON. 


When  twenty  years  of  age  he  was  conducting  a  grocery-store  in  his  native 
place,  devoting  his  leisure  time  to  painting  still-life  pieces  from  subjects 


148 


Art  and  Artists  in  Connecticut, 


about  him.  In  1861  his  store  was  abandoned  for  art,  and  he  entered  the 
drawing-school  of  Benjamin  H.  Coe,  which  three  years  later  he  conducted, 
Mr.  Coe  retiring.  This  position  he  held  till  1867.  Mr.  Thompson  is 
young,  and  enthusiastic  in  his  profession  ;  and,  while  he  has  done  much 
that  entitles  him  to  a  position  in  Connecticut  art,  he  has  apparently  the 
will  and  ability  to  do  much  more.  He  painted  the  portrait  of  Gen.  Put- 
nam that  hung  in  the  Connecticut  Cottage  at  the  Philadelphia  Centennial 
Exhibition.  In  the  fifty-second  annual  exhibition  at  the  National  Acad- 
emy he  presented  a  large  portrait  of  Dr.  Leonard  Bacon  of  Yale,  which 
is  thus  far  his  best  work  in  portraiture.  It  is  natural,  lifeHke,  and  boldly 
painted.  Another  excellent  work  is  a  portrait  of  Judge  E.  K.  Foster, 
hanging  in  the  Superior-Court  room  at  New  Haven.  He  has  made  a 
decided  progress  in  the  past  three  years. 

WILLIAM  GEDNEY  liUN'CE, 

A  son  of  James  M.  Bunce  of  Hartford,  William  Gedney  Bunce,  now  a 
resident  artist  of  Paris,  was  born  in  Hartford  in  1840.  His  first  impres- 
sions of  childhood  were  a  love  of  art.  This  feeling,  being  overpowered 
by  parental  objection,  was  virtually  set  aside. 

When  sixteen  years  old,  driven  by  a  restless  spirit  waiting  develop- 
ment, he  studied  drawing  under  the  direction  of  Julius  Busch. 

In  1863  Mr.  Bunce  went  to  New  York,  and  began  a  course  of  instruc- 
tion in  oil-painting  under  William  Hart.  Decided  success  and  rapid 
progress  induced  him  to  accompany  Mr.  Hart,  the  following  summer,  upon 
a  sketching-trip  through  Maine.  As  a  boy  and  youth,  he  had  been  in 
every  thing  an  enthusiast  ;  and,  once  his  heart  being  fixed  upon  painting, 
he  threw  the  whole  enthusiasm  of  his  life  into  it.  Several  unfortunate 
financial  investments  acted  to  seal  the  fate  that  would  place  him  perma- 
nently in  the  ranks  of  art.  In  1867  he  sailed  for  Europe,  going  at  once 
to  Paris.  Here  he  began  again  the  study  of  drawing,  realizing  that  there 
was  his  principal  deficiency.  Later  he  left  for  Munich,  where  he  studied 
for  a  year  ;  then  walked  through  Switzerland  with  DuBois,  and  established 
himself  in  Rome,  remaining  there  for  six  years,  and  making  excursions 
over  Italy. 

He  has  spent  the  past  four  winters  in  Paris,  the  summers  in  Venice,  and 
is  a  thorough  admirer  of  French  art.  He  writes,  ''I  stay  in  Paris  because 
I  think  I  can  learn  more  here  than  anywhere  else  in  the  world.  I  have 
lived  as  an  artist  in  America,  England,  Germany,  Italy,  and  Holland,  and 
consider  that  France  takes  the  lead.  I  think  the  Paris  salon  the  best  and 
hardest  place  to  work  for  in  the  world.    I  want  to  live  in  my  native  land. 


Eugene  Benson, 


149 


and  I  hope  I  yet  may ;  but  older  countries,  like  older  men,  can  teach  me 
the  most  as  yet."  His  pictures  have  lately  been  entirely  Venetian  views. 
His  style  since  leaving  America  has  naturally  changed  materially.  Many 
of  his  pictures  are  owned  in  Hartford.  They  are  bold  and  free  in  paint- 
ing, and  of  strong,  rich  color  and  warm  tints,  well  adapted  to  his  choice 
of  views.  His  forte  is  as  a  colorist.  His  scenes  are  weird  and  often 
melancholy  spots,  selected  where  the  power  of  color  may  be  most  effec- 
tive and  undisturbed.  A  Venetian  landscape  of  his  was  hung  on  the  line 
in  the  Paris  salo7i  for  March,  1877;  and  the  same  in  the  first  New-Society 
Exhibition  in  New  York. 

An  over-critical  spirit  regarding  his  own  work  has  been  to  his  disadvan- 
tage at  times.  He  is  slow  to  speak,  but,  when  aroused  upon  a  point  of 
interest,  a  fine  conversationalist. 

EUGENE  BENSON, 

A  singularly  brilliant  man  in  mind  and  talent,  spent  four  years  in  New 
Haven,  leaving  an  impression  upon  the  art-life  of  the  city  and  state  that 
will  not  soon  be  forgotten.  He  was  born  at  Hyde  Park  on  the  Hudson 
Nov.  I,  1840. 

As  a  boy  he  had  been  taught  by  necessity  the  value  of  economy. 
While  a  student,  and  during  the  first  three  years  of  his  life  as  an  artist, 
he  struggled  against  a  poverty  that  would  have  baffled  many  an  aspirant. 
He  lived  in  New  York,  practising  forced  denials  that  could  hardly  be  cred- 
ited if  repeated.  He  increased  a  very  small  income  by  contributing  upon 
the  lowest  terms  to  several  of  the  New-York  dailies.  Unfortunately  for 
art,  the  support  thus  received  as  a  friend  in  need  lured  him  from  the  work 
for  which  he  was  sacrificing  every  thing.  He  possessed  evident  talent  as 
a  writer ;  and  from  writing  of  necessity  he  was  soon,  almost  unconsciously, 
writing  as  a  luxury  at  the  expense  of  his  pictures.  Poverty  sharpens  the 
senses,  and  creates  almost  an  insane  fondness  for  that  which  affords  relief. 
His  literary  work  rapidly  increased  in  excellence.  From  time  to  time 
able  art-criticisms  appeared  in  The  New-York  Evening  Post  "  over  the 
signature  Proteus."  The  authorship  was  fastened  upon  the  obscure 
artist.  From  that  time  Eugene  Benson  became  one  of  the  finest  art- 
critics  who  ever  wrote  in  America.  In  1869  Mr.  Benson  left  New  York, 
and  moved  to  New  Haven.  He  resided  near  East  Rock.  During  his  life 
in  New  Haven,  his  attention  was  about  equally  divided  between  writing 
and  painting.  In  both  his  merits  must  be  freely  acknowledged,  though 
the  public  bestowed  greater  honor  upon  the  writer  than  the  painter. 

In  1873  Mr.  Benson  went  abroad,  and,  with  no  material  exceptions,  has 


Art  and  Artists  in  Connecticut. 


since  resided  there.  Mrs.  Benson  is  a  daughter  of  Dr.  Milan  of  Geneva. 
Her  daughter  is  the  graceful  and  talented  author  of  "  Kismet." 

Mr.  Benson's  work  is  confined  to  figure-painting  and  portraits.  He 
excels  in  modelling  the  figure  in  various  attitudes,  and  has  the  reputation 
of  great  frankness,  and  fidelity  to  fact,  in  his  representation  of  foreign 
dress,  costume,  and  peculiarities.  In  portraits  he  is  equally  successful  in 
obtaining  a  good  likeness.  Professor  Weir  of  New  Haven  has  in  his 
possession  two  portraits  of  Miss  Julia  Fletcher,  which  are  indicative  of  a 
free,  bold  touch,  and  an  effective  use  of  colors.  His  work  possesses  the 
same  delicacy  and  the  same  motive  of  poetry  that  is  so  finely  expressed 
in  his  aesthetic  criticisms.  He  was  elected  to  the  Artists'  P'und  in  1861, 
but  fell  back  tlirough  neglect. 

GURDON  TRUMBULL. 

The  finest  fish-painter  of  America,  Gurdon  Trumbull,  was  born  in 
Stonington,  Conn.,  May  5,  1841.  In  1852  he  came  to  Hartford.  His 
first  and  most  lasting  associations  were  with  artists,  and  almost  insensibly 
the  whole  tenor  of  his  life  was  turned  in  that  direction.  His  first  work  in 
oil  was  upon  landscapes,  though  his  earlier  drawings  had  been  of  fish.  He 
studied  for  a  time  under  F.  S.  Jewett ;  then  went  to  New  York,  and  became 
a  pupil  of  James  M.  Hart.  His  progress  as  a  student  was  not  that  of 
ordinary  plodding,  but  bore  promise  of  genius.  Unfortunately  for  the 
art,  Mr.  Trumbull's  circumstances  have  been  such  that  he  has  never  been 
urged  beyond  the  dictates  of  his  fancy  to  follow  a  profession.  Few  of  his 
pictures  have  come  before  the  public  :  indeed,  he  has  painted  but  very 
little. 

In  landscape  his  masterpiece  is  ''A  Moorish  Watch-Tower  on  the  Coast 
of  Spain,"  in  possession  of  William  C.  Prime,  LL.D.,  which  was  copied  in 
chromo  in  France  shortly  after  its  appearance.  From  landscape  he  under- 
took flower-painting,  feeling  that  he  had  not  touched  the  responding  note 
in  his  nature  with  exactness.  Some  of  these  flower-pieces  were  excep- 
tionally fine,  but  not  satisfactory  to  the  artist.  At  last  he  found,  in  the 
painting  of  fish,  the  branch  of  art  in  which  he  was  destined  to  lead.  His 
pictures  are  noticeably  remarkable  as  portraits.  They  are  not  dead,  rigid 
outlines,  hung  upon  a  wall  or  lying  on  a  table,  nor  the  lazily  floundering 
fish  that  may  be  seen  through  a  glass  at  an  aquarium.  They  are  on  fire 
with  life;  they  are  vigorous  to  every  fin.  He  has  chosen  his  scenes  where 
activity  is  the  soul  of  the  subject ;  such  views  as  only  the  sportsman  gains 
and  can  appreciate.  There  is  nothing  morbid  or  monotonous  in  them. 
They  are  microscopically  perfect,  each  scale,  eye,  fin,  tissue  about  the  gills, 


Gurdon  Trumbull, 


being  a  study  in  itself,  yet  so  skilfully  executed  that  distance  lends  enchant- 
ment, and  completes  the  figure  with  the  excitement  of  motion  and  vitality. 
Foremost  among  his  productions  is  "A  Critical  Moment,"  exhibited  in  the 
Centennial  Art  Gallery  at  Philadelphia.  A  leading  metropolitan  journal 
commented  upon  it,  "  The  naturalist  can  make  as  good  a  study  from  this, 
so  far  as  externals  go,  as  he  could  from  the  fish  itself.  It  is  a  delicious 
work  to  look  at,  and  may  safely  be  ranked,  with  Mr.  Trumbull's  other 
pictures  of  this  class,  the  finest  fish-paintings  that  have  been  seen  in  any 
times."  The  trout  has  taken  the  hook,  and  made  a  last  mad  rush,  which 
has  proved  successful.    The  tackle  has  broken,  and  he  is  going  over  the 


"study  of  a  black  bass."  — by  G.  TRUMBULL. 


falls  with  mouth  open,  in  an  almost  exhausted  plunge  for  liberty,  his  bril- 
liant sides  flashing  in  the  green-and-white  spray  that  covers  him.  The 
work  shows  most  astonishing  care  ;  the  gossamer  fins  absolutely  undulate  ; 
and,  as  one  watches,  he  almost  expects  to  see  the  trout  disappear  from  the 
green  flood,  leaving  it,  flecked  with  its  white  foam,  alone  in  the  frame.  It 
is  not  only  an  admirable  picture :  it  has  the  merit  of  being  a  perfect  ich- 
thyological  study.  The  only  fault,  if  a  fault  exists,  is  in  the  artist's  coloring, 
which  is  at  most  nothing  more  than  a  falling  short  of  a  possibly  attainable 
excellence.  It  is  deeply  regretted  that  for  several  years  he  has  almost 
abandoned  his  easel ;  for  the  world  cannot  possess  so  many  of  such  pic- 


Art  and  Artists  m  Connecticut, 


tures  as  to  make  them  common.  He  is  an  excellent  draughtsman,  and 
has  for  some  time  occupied  himself  with  pen-and-ink  sketches,  and  the 
collection  of  pottery  and  porcelain  in  Hartford,  where  he  has  resided 
since  moving  from  Stonington. 

JOHN  FERGUSON  WEIR. 

The  professor  of  painting  in  the  Yale  Art  School,  J.  F.  Weir,  was 
born  at  West  Point  Aug.  28,  1841.  He  received  his  instruction  in  art 
from  his  father.  His  first  year  of  practice  in  New  York  he  received  two 
hundred  dollars  for  paintings,  and  a  hundred  dollars  for  night-work  for 
"The  New-York  lu'cning  Post,"  which,  with  sixty  dollars  with  which  he 
reached  the  city,  more  than  balanced  his  year's  expenses.  It  was  a  good 
experience,  and  taught  him  where  to  look  for  success.  In  1869  he  went 
abroad  to  study.  This  trip,  however,  was  cut  short  by  his  accepting  the 
position  which  he  now  holds  in  New  Haven.  He  is  fond  of  large  can- 
vases, and  has  produced  some  popular  and  finely-executed  pieces.  His 
work  has  been  criticised  as  lacking  in  color.  This  seems  hardly  just,  how- 
ever, as  color  is  evidently  a  secondary  consideration  with  him.  His  work 
is  well  balanced,  and  characteristic  for  truthfulness.  There  is  no  Harinir 
eccentricity,  either  in  the  man  or  his  work,  to  leave  an  unpleasant  impres- 
sion on  the  mind. 

JOHN   S.  JAMESON. 

In  Zion's-Hill  Cemetery,  at  Hartford,  Conn.,  lie  the  remains  of  John 
S.  Jameson,  one  of  the  many  thousands  sacrificed  in  our  late  war  for  the 
Union.  He  was  born  in  Hartford  March  25,  1842;  and  died  in  the 
Andersonville  Prison  Aug.  31,  1864.  W^hen  only  nine  years  old  he  mani- 
fested an  unusual  taste  and  ability  for  music,  gathered  from  his  father, 
John  Jameson  the  organist,  and  his  mother,  the  celebrated  singer  Mrs. 
Rachel  S.  Jameson.  He  also  developed  a  talent  as  marked  for  drawing 
and  painting.  When  eleven,  his  parents  moved  with  him  to  New  York ; 
and  during  his  thirteenth  year  he  drew  upon  his  slate  a  portrait  so  life- 
like, and  such  an  excellent  likeness,  that  it  at  once  attracted  the  attention 
and  admiration  of  several  artists,  chiefly  Frederick  E.  Church,  who  became 
the  young  man's  fast  and  valuable  friend,  and  upon  his  death  wrote  of 
him,  Of  all  the  younger  artists  of  my  acquaintance,  no  one  has  held 
out  better-grounded  hopes  of  future  high  excellence.  His  standard  was  a 
lofty  one,  and  it  appeared  to  me  that  no  selfish  ambition  guided  his  hand." 
In  music,  no  less,  he  made  rapid  and  astonishing  progress.  William 
Mason,  who  was  long  an  important  friend,  wrote,  "  Tt  seemed  to  me  I  had 


Horace  Wolcott  Robbins. 


153 


never  met  a  finer  musical  talent."  The  Artists'  Fund  Society,  of  which 
he  was  one  of  the  early  members,  passed  the  following  at  his  death,  sub- 
mitted by  John  F.  Kensett,  its  president :  — 

Had  his  life  been  spared,  the  rare  qualities  of  his  mind,  his  exquisite 
taste  and  accomplishments,  and  fine  promise  of  future  excellence  in  his 
art,  would  have  reflected  honor  upon  this  society,  and  upon  the  country  of 


Beyond  these  estimates  nothing  need  be  or  could  be  said.  Many  a 
bright  star  of  promise  fell,  shaken  from  its  path  toward  a  glorious  zenith, 
by  the  convulsions  of  that  bitter  conflict, — probably  none  brighter  than 
the  promise  in  John  S.  Jameson. 


A  member  of  the  large  family  so  well  and  widely  known  in  Connecti* 
cut  for  many  generations,  Horace  W.  Robbins,  the  landscape-painter,  was 
born  in  Mobile,  Ala.,  Oct.  21,  1842.  His  father  was  a  native  of  Rocky 
Hill,  where  the  family  came  with  the  very  first  settlement.  His  mother 
was  a  Miss  Hyde,  from  an  equally  well-known  family  of  Norwich.  He  has 
also  spent  many  summers  sketching  and  painting  in  the  State ;  and  his 
wife,  a  Miss  Phelps,  is  a  daughter  of  a  native  of  Simsbury.  Altogether, 
the  State  is  entitled  to  take  a  vital  interest  in  the  artist,  as  very  closely 
allied  to  her. 


his  birth. 


JOHN  S.  JAMESON. 


HORACE  WOLCOTT  ROBBINS. 


154 


Art  and  Artists  in  Connecticut, 


Mr.  Robbins  received  a  collegiate  education  in  Baltimore,  taking  the 
highest  honors  of  the  class.  His  first  instruction  in  art  was  given  by  his 
father,  supplemented,  while  pursuing  his  other  studies,  by  the  best  teachers 
that  could  be  procured.  After  graduating  he  studied  with  James  M.  Hart 
in  New  York,  and,  the  following  winter,  opened  a  studio  in  that  city.  Dur- 
ing the  war  he  was  a  member  of  the  famous  New-York  Twenty-second 
Regiment.  He  was  elected  a  member  of  the  Century  Club  in  1863,  and 
May  10,  1864,  an  associate  of  the  National  Academy.  In  May,  1878,  he 
was  made  an  academician  by  a  very  flattering  vote.  He  was  made  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Artists'  Fund  in  1873,  and,  soon  after,  the  secretary.  In  May, 
1864,  he  sailed  with  F.  E.  Church  to  the  Island  of  Jamaica,  where  they 


HORACE  WOLCOTT  ROBRINS. 


painted  for  several  months.  When  Mr.  Church  returned,  Mr.  Robbins 
went  at  once  to  England.  At  the  American  Legation  at  Paris  he  was 
married,  and  passed  the  two  succeeding  winters  in  Paris  studying  art. 
He  was  fortunate  in  meeting  and  receiving  instruction  from  Theodore 
Rousseau,  and  in  visiting  the  studios  of  the  leading  artists  of  the 
day.  The  summer  of  1866  he  passed  in  sketching  in  Switzerland; 
returning  to  Paris  for  the  Exposition  of  1867,  and  to  New  York  in  the 
fall.  Several  of  Mr.  Robbins's  largest  and  best  pieces  and  many  smaller 
sketches  are  from  the  Farmington  Valley.  "The  Roadside  Elms"  and 
"Mount  Philip"  were  Simsbury  sketches,  exhibited  at  the  Centennial, 
now  owned  by  the  Attwood  family  of  Poughkeepsie,  and  George  F.  Phelps 


Nelson  A,  Primus. — Montague  Flagg, 


155 


of  New  York.  He  is  rapidly  becoming  one  of  the  leading  artists  in 
water-color  painting.  He  is  treasurer  of  the  Society  of  Painters  in 
Water-Color,  and  yearly  contributes  productions  that  indicate  a  most 
promising  progress.  His  last  contribution  was  a  view  of  the  old  Ensign 
House  in  Simsbury.  This  picture  also  appeared  in  the  Paris  Exposition 
of  1878. 

There  was  a  slight  mannerism  in  Mr.  Robbins's  early  work,  which  he 
appears  to  have  dropped  entirely  within  a  few  years,  and  is  rapidly  gain- 
ing in  an  independence  and  originality  that  much  better  become  him. 

NELSON  A.  PRIMUS. 

A  colored  boy.  Nelson  A.  Primus,  born  in  Hartford  1843,  was  appren- 
ticed to  George  Francis  to  learn  the  carriage-making  and  painting  trade.  It 
was  a  gloomy  prospect,  even  in  Hartford,  and  as  late  as  1858,  to  start  in  life 
with  any  notion  of  raising  himself ;  and  Nelson  Primus  had  as  hard  a  time 
as  any  of  his  race.  However,  with  the  help  of  Mr.  Francis,  who  vigor- 
ously upheld  him,  he  weathered  the  buffetings,  and  rapidly  developed  a 
strong  love  for  art,  and  some  ability  in  painting,  and  in  1859  received 
a  medal  from  the  State  Agricultural  Society  for  good  drawing.  He 
painted  a  trout-piece,  which  the  scholars  of  the  Talcott-street  Sunday 
School  purchased,  and  presented  to  the  superintendent.  Mr.  Francis  gave 
him  some  instruction.  Mrs.  Jerome  also  gave  him  a  few  lessons.  Beside 
this,  all  of  his  studying  was  done  by  himself.  In  1864  he  moved  to  Boston, 
and  endeavored  to  establish  himself  as  a  portrait-painter.  He  paints  a 
very  good  face,  and  has  been  partially  successful,  but  obliged  to  work  at 
carriage-painting  beside  for  support.  He  painted  a  portrait  of  F.  J. 
Allen,  proprietor  of  the  Astor  House,  that  was  highly  complimented  by 
the  press ;  and  one  of  the  actress  Lizzie  May  Ulmer,  a  good  likeness,  and 
well  executed. 

MONTAGUE  FLAGG. 

The  oldest  son  of  Jared  B.  Flagg,  grandson  of  Mayor  Flagg,  Monta- 
gue, born  in  Hartford  1843,  presents  an  example  of  talent  hidden  even 
from  the  possessor  for  many  years.  Finding  it  impossible  to  enter  a 
mercantile  life,  he  sailed  to  Australia.  Returning,  his  father  urged  art- 
work upon  him  without  success.  He  was  twenty-six  before  he  made  his 
first  attempt  at  drawing,  but  with  such  success  that  he  at  once  entered 
upon  a  study  of  drawing.  At  the  end  of  three  years,  developing  both 
love  for  the  profession  and  ability,  he  sailed  for  Paris,  where  he  has 
since  been  studying  under  the  best  masters.    Some  time  ago  he  sent 


156 


Art  and  Artists  in  Connecticut. 


home  a  portrait  of  the  late  Dr.  Bushnell,  which  was  exhibited  in  Hartford. 
It  was  painted  in  the  bold  French  style,  with  many  meritorious  points. 
A  small  piece,  ''The  Mysterious  Text,"  and  another,  *' The  Young- 
Pioneer,"  were  exhibited  in  the  fifty-second  annual  exhibition  at  the 
National  Academy,  eliciting  much  praise. 

OLIX   L.  WARNER. 

The  sculptor  O.  L.  Warner,  now  established  in  New  York,  was  born 
in  Suffield,  Hartford  County,  Conn.,  April  9,  1844.  While  studying  at 
the  Seward  Institute  at  fifteen  years  of  age,  he  made  several  busts  in 
chalk  from  engravings,  with  so  much  success,  that  he  determined  to  be- 
come a  sculi)tor.  There  was  no  way  opened  to  him,  and  he  studied  teleg- 
raphy to  supply  himself  with  means  to  attempt  the  profession.  In  1869 
he  went  abroad,  and  entered  the  French  National  School  of  Fine  Arts, 
where  he  was  under  Jouffroy  ;  afterwards  working  in  the  studio  of  Car- 
peaux.  He  returned  to  America  in  1872  after  the  Franco-Prussian  war, 
in  which,  with  Mollcr,  he  had  joined  the  P'oreign  Legion,  and  been  one  of 
the  best  shots  in  the  company  of  sharpshooters.  Finding  a  lack  of 
employment  at  first,  he  resolutely  undertook  any  thing  that  might  be 
brought  within  his  line,  spending  all  of  his  leisure  time  upon  medallion 
heads  and  small  ideal  figures,  which  have  proved  very  popular.  He  is  a 
member  of  the  Society  of  American  Artists,  and  exhibited  at  the  Phila- 
delphia Centennial  a  colossal  medallion  of  Edwin  Forrest,  and  a  bust  of 
President  Hayes  at  the  Union  League  Club  in  1876.  A  marble  statue  of 
"  Night  "  is  one  of  his  best  pieces,  promising  much  for  the  possibilities 
before  the  artist. 

THOMAS  SEDGWICK  STEELE. 

T.  S.  Steele,  born  in  Hartford  June  11,  1845,  where  he  has  since 
resided,  has  virtually  devoted  his  life  to  mercantile  business,  but  before 
and  after  business-hours  has,  in  the  last  few  years,  produced  several 
paintings  that  entitle  him  to  mention  among  Connecticut  artists.  A 
taste  for  outdoor  sports  led  him  into  the  Rangeley-Lake  regions,  Maine, 
where  in  1873,  to  preserve  the  size  of  a  six-pound  trout  caught  with  rod 
and  line,  he  laid  it  on  a  piece  of  bark,  marking  the  outline  with  a  knife- 
blade.  Within  this  outline  he  reproduced  the  colors  of  the  trout  with 
crayon.  Success  in  this  demonstrated  a  taste  that  has  since  led  him  to 
endeavors  in  oil.  In  the  summer  of  1874  his  first  trout-piece  was  favora- 
bly placed  in  the  Brooklyn  Art  Academy,  and  in  the  spring  of  1877  three 
similar  paintings  were  hung  *'on  the  line"  in  the  National-Academy  Exhi- 


R,  T.  Sperry ;  E.  Plackett;  E.  S.  Pease;  C.  C.  Burleigh,  Jun.  157 


bition.  He  has  also  been  able  to  sell  several  pieces  at  flattering  prices. 
Never  having  received  any  instruction,  and  doing  much  of  his  painting 
by  gaslight,  these  are  specimens  of  truly  remarkable  success,  for  the  de- 
velopment of  which  he  thanks  the  six-pound  trout.  He  is  secretary  and 
treasurer  of  the  Hartford  School  of  Design. 

REGINALD  T.  SPERRY, 

A  son  of  Dr.  T.  S.  Sperry,  born  in  Hartford  in  1845,  early  displayed  a 
taste  for  art  (which  his  father  warmly  encouraged),  and  received  instruction 
in  figure-painting  from  Alfred  Hart.  When  twenty-four  he  began  a  course 
of  study  in  the  National  Academy,  and,  returning  to  Hartford,  was  for 
some  time  engaged  in  a  successful  art-school,  in  the  course  of  which  he 
delivered  weekly  lectures  on  art  in  its  relations  to  physiology  and  anatomy, 
that  were  popular  and  instructive.  He  has  painted  many  meritorious 
landscapes,  displaying  an  excellent  taste  for  general  arrangement,  and  a 
proficiency  in  drawing ;  but  his  forte,  in  which  he  is  particularly  felici- 
tous, is  offhand  black-and-white  designing.  In  1874  he  moved  from  Hart- 
ford, and  established  himself  in  Brooklyn,  N.Y.,  where  he  still  resides. 
He  is  now  preparing  sketches  for  a  series  of  engravings  illustrative  of 
the  Connecticut  Valley,  from  the  source  of  the  river  to  the  Sound. 

EBENEZER  PLACKETT. 

A  young  artist,  E.  Plackett,  giving  considerable  promise  in  portrait 
and  figure  painting,  settled  in  New  Milford  in  1871,  where  he  has  since 
remained.    He  was  born  in  Wisconsin  May  24,  1844. 

ERNEST  SHERMAN  PEASE. 

A  son  of  the  engraver  J.  I.  Pease,  Ernest  Sherman,  born  in  Phila- 
delphia November,  1846,  came  with  his  father  to  Salisbury,  Conn.,  in 
1872.  He  paints  birds  and  animals  with  much  talent  in  water-color.  His 
color  is  especially  good,  taken  direct  from  nature,  of  which  he  is  evidently 
a  faithful  student.  He  is  a  growing  artist ;  and,  if  he  perseveres  with  the 
same  enthusiasm  that  has  marked  his  course  thus  far,  he  may  be  sure  of  a 
popular  future. 

C.   C.    BURLEIGH,  JUN. 

Charles  Burleigh,  born  in  Pennsylvania  1848,  was  brought  to  Plainfield, 
Conn.,  when  six  months  old,  where  his  grandfather  had  been  preceptor  of 


158 


Art  and  Artists  in  Connecticut. 


the  academy,  and  where  his  father  was  born.  There  he  began  the  study 
of  art  as  a  portrait-painter ;  which  branch  he  now  pursues  in  Northampton, 
Mass. 

ROBERT  BOLLING  BRANDEGEE. 

R.  B.  Brandegee  was  born  in  Berlin,  Conn.,  in  April,  1849.  He 
possesses  many  of  the  fundamental  qualities  of  the  best  artist.  His  love 
and  labor  for  art  date  with  his  childhood.  His  school-day  drawings  are 
remarkable  for  the  accuracy  with  which  he  represents  the  body  in  mo- 
tion. 

Fortunately,  while  quite  young,  his  talent  in  drawing  attracted  the 
attention  of  a  relative  well  able  to  assist  the  promise  that  was  in  him, 
giving  it  every  facility  for  development.  His  first  study  was  under  J.  Hill, 
the  water-color  artist  of  Nyack ;  after  which  he  spent  a  winter  under  the 
instruction  of  S.  C.  Farrar  in  New  York  (now  in  London).  Thus  far  his 
work  had  been  wholly  with  water-color,  in  which  he  had  reached  a  pro- 
ficiency that  enabled  him  to  sell  several  pictures  at  a  very  good  advantage. 
"A  Study  of  Tulips,"  exhibited  through  the  Water-Color  Society,  received 
a  complimentary  notice  which  it  well  deserved.  His  style  was  somewhat 
after  his  master's,  but  expressed  withal  an  independence  and  individuality. 
It  was  fresh,  strong,  and  vigorous.  The  bright  sunshine  and  bold  relief 
were  courted  in  his  subjects,  whether  with  complete  success  or  not  is  of 
comparatively  little  moment.  They  will  be  good  qualities  if  held  in 
obedience,  and  developed  through  careful  education. 

After  attaining  this  degree  of  perfection,  Mr.  Brandegee  returned  from 
New  York  ;  and  for  two  years  he  occupied  a  studio,  and  gave  lessons  to 
several  young  ladies  in  Hartford, — as  he  remarks,  "with  much  more 
pleasure  to  himself  than  profit."  On  the  29th  of  April,  1872,  in  company 
with  C.  N.  Flagg  and  William  Faxon,  jun.,  he  sailed  for  Europe. 

Mr.  Brandegee  has  very  sensibly  put  himself  under  a  strict  course 
of  instruction,  spending  only  vacations  in  making  sketches  in  oil, 
of  which  he  has  sent  home  some  interesting  specimens  showing  most 
happy  progress.  Two  of  these  pictures  were  displayed  in  the  National- 
Academy  Exhibition  a  year  ago,  well  worthy  of  study,  and  gratifying  to  the 
friends  of  the  artist,  —  ''A  Peasant  Girl  of  Burgundy  fishing  in  the 
Yonne,"  "A  Peasant  Woman  of  Cernay  la  Ville."  For  four  years  he 
studied  simply  drawing  from  casts  and  live  models.  The  last  year  has 
been  devoted  to  color  and  composition.  A  late  piece,  "  The  Wandering 
Musician,"  shows  the  good  effects  immediately  resulting  from  this  ;  also 
an  excellent  piece,  "By  the  Window."  "A  Priest,"  in  good  color  and 
drawing,  was  in  the  1878  Exhibition  at  the  National  Academy,  New  York. 


Charles  Noel  Flagg,  —  Charles  E.  Porter. 


159 


CHARLES  NOEL  FLAGG. 

The  second  son  of  Jared  B.  Flagg,  born  in  Brooklyn  1849,  after  study- 
ing in  Paris,  established  himself  in  Hartford  in  1874,  where  he  became 
popular  as  a  social,  intelligent,  and  promising  artist.  In  1877,  company 
with  D.  W.  Tryon,  he  again  went  to  Paris,  where  he  is  still  studying.  A 
large  portrait  of  the  late  Austin  Dunham,  sent  to  Hartford  in  January, 
1877,  shows  much  progress,  a  bold,  free  touch,  and  good  use  of  color. 

CHARLES  E.  PORTER. 

The  fruit-painter  C.  E.  Porter  was  born  in  Hartford  1850.  His 
talent  for  picture-making  rendered  him  popular  in  the  public  school. 
When  fourteen,  he  began  a  course  of  study  in  drawing ;  but  poverty  obliged 
him  to  discontinue.    At  sixteen  he  began  again,  and,  after  studying  for 


"  STUDY  OF  FRUIT."  —  BY  CHARLES  E.  PORTER. 


two  years,  entered  the  National  Academy  for  four  terms  in  the  antique 
and  life  schools,  supporting  himself  by  giving  lessons.  He  then  studied 
for  a  year  with  J.  O.  Easton.    He  has  several  times  exhibited  fine  speci- 


i6o  Art  and  Artists  in  Connecticut. 

mens  of  his  work  at  the  National  Academy.  Henry  Bryant  of  Hartford 
has  been  a  warm  friend  of  the  artist ;  and,  through  his  influence,  he  has 
lately  opened  a  studio  in  Hartford.  His  fruit  and  flower  pieces  display 
much  talent.  They  are  characteristically  almost  without  paint,  the  most 
delicate  expressions  of  color,  faithful  to  nature,  and  very  attractive.  Few 
artists  have  obtained  a  better  education  in  drawing,  and  few  are  more 
deserving  of  success.  Being  a  colored  man,  Mr.  Porter  has  found  shame- 
ful obstacles  placed  in  his  path,  but  is  manfully  fighting  them  with  a  love 
of  art  and  an  enthusiasm  that  must  conquer. 

EDWIN  AUGUSTUS  MOORE. 

A  son  of  the  landscape-painter  N.  A.  Moore,  born  in  Hartford  Aug. 
24,  1858,  has  taken  up  his  father's  profession  with  evident  liking,  and 
already  produced  several  specimen-pieces  that  do  him  very  great  credit. 


"an  owl."  —  BY  E.  A.  MOORE 


D.   W.  TRYON. 

A  young  artist  familiarly  known  to  many  residents  about  Hartford, 
D.  W.  Tryon,  is  now  studying  in  Paris.  He  was  born  in  Hartford  in 
August,  1849.  When  three  years  old  his  father  died,  and  he  was  taken 
by  his  mother  to  East  Hartford.  When  but  four  years  old  he  evinced  a 
strong  love  for  the  pencil,  and  at  ten,  when  on  a  trip  up  the  Hudson, 


D,  W.  Try  on. 


i6i 


made  a  sketch  of  an  island,  that  created  a  decided  enthusiasm  among  the 
passengers.  Necessity  compelled  his  entering  a  clerkship;  but  in  1871 
he  gave  it  up,  and  opened  a  studio,  producing  principally  landscape-scenes, 
and  giving  lessons.  In  1872  he  married,  and  in  1877  sailed  for  Paris, 
where  he  is  making  a  careful  study  of  figure-painting.  A  landscape 
exhibited  by  him  in  the  Kurtz  Gallery,  March,  1878,  and  later  in  Hartford, 
Castle  Elizabeth  from  the  Sands  at  Jersey,"  is  indicative  of  very  good 
results  from  his  study.  Mr.  Tryon  possesses  courage  and  perseverance,  — 
two  excellent  qualities  looking  toward  success  in  art ;  and  great  things  may 
safely  be  predicted  if  he  retain  his  pleasing  originality. 


l62 


Art  and  Artists  in  Connecticut, 


APPENDIX. 


Following  are  the  names  of  a  few  artists,  of  whom,  for  one  cause  or 
another,  it  has  been  impossible  to  learn  the  age,  and  which  are  conse- 
quently placed  in  an  Appendix,  having  nothing  to  indicate  their  chrono- 
logical position. 

GEORGE  BALDWIN, 

A  native  of  Thompson,  Conn.,  born  about  sixty  years  ago,  after  re- 
ceiving a  common-school  education,  went  to  Norwich,  and  studied  por- 
traiture. He  married  in  Mansfield  Centre,  and,  after  practising  his  art  in 
various  localities,  has  settled  in  his  native  place,  where  he  is  still  engaged 
in  portrait-painting. 

MATTHEW  WILSON. 

In  1861-63  Matthew  Wilson  won  a  wide  local  reputation  about  Hart- 
ford for  his  life-size  crayon  and  pastel  heads,  at  one  hundred  and  at  fifty 
dollars  respectively.  His  work  possessed  much  spirit  and  grace,  but 
was  naturally  somewhat  unfinished  through  rapid  execution.  He  often 
finished  a  head  in  a  single  day.  In  1863  he  removed  to  Brooklyn,  N.Y., 
for  a  wider  field  of  labor. 

HEKKING. 

Mr.  Hekking,  the  widely-known  and  popular  German  landscape-painter, 
was  one  of  the  ori2:inal  members  of  the  Hartford  Art  Association,  and 
has  practised  his  art  through  Connecticut  at  irregular  intervals  for  many 
years. 

CARL  CONRADS. 

Another  German  artist,  Carl  Conrads,  has  been  for  twelve  years  con- 
nected with  the  Hartford  Granite  Company.  He  is  perhaps  over-modest 
regarding  his  work  as  a  sculptor,  which  is  surely  very  good  of  its  kind. 
Among  his  best  designs  are  the  figures  on  the  Antietam  Monument.  In 


Appendix. 


1 87 1  he  returned  to  Munich  for  a  short  visit,  avaiUng  himself  of  the 
opportunity  for  still  further  study.  As  a  designer  of  monuments,  his 
work  stands  high. 

W.  J.  HENNESSY. 

Mr.  Hennessy,  now  in  London,  where  he  has  built  up  a  popular  reputa- 
tion, went  there  from  New  Haven,  where  he  had  painted  for  some  time. 
Eugene  Benson  wrote  of  him  in  1863,  "His  work  indicates  a  sympathy 
for  the  loneliness  of  old  age  which  does  as  much  credit  to  his  heart  as  the 
representation  does  to  the  skill  of  his  hand."  A  characteristic  piece, 
Spring,"  hangs  in  the  Yale  Art  Gallery.  All  his  work  seems  to  need  is 
a  little  more  of  the  mellowness  most  attractive  in  a  picture  to  earn  for  the 
artist  a  high  position. 

W.  ELIPHALET  TERRY. 

A  cousin  of  Luther  Terry  the  artist,  W.  Eliphalet  Terry,  spent  some 
time  in  Hartford,  Conn.,  practising  art.  He  is  especially  felicitous  in 
drawing  animals,  but,  unfortunately  fortunate  financially,  has  lacked  the 
encouragement  of  necessity  to  become  a  master.  He  has  been  remarka- 
bly successful,  considering  the  limited  attention  given  the  subject.  After 
studying  under  Luther  Terry  in  Rome  during  1846  and  1847,  he  spent 
the  greater  part  of  1849,  i^50,  and  185 1,  in  Hartford.  Characteristic 
is  a  reply  made  to  a  brother-artist  in  that  city  who  found  him  idle 
before  a  picture  for  several  days  :  I  am  bound  I  will  not  have  two 
finished  pictures  on  hand  at  once. 

JOHN  EDWARD  WYLIE. 

A  young  artist,  J.  E.  Wylie,  jun.,  born  in  New  Haven,  Conn.,  is 
evidently  rising  to  a  position  of  excellence  as  a  water-color  painter. 
Flower-pieces  have  thus  far  claimed  his  entire  attention,  in  which  he  has 
displayed  much  talent.  He  has  lately  established  himself  in  Hartford, 
and,  with  an  ambition  to  become  a  figure-painter,  will  doubtless  be  promi- 
nent in  the  future. 

ROBERT  W.  WISEMAN. 

Several  paintings  of  animals  in  the  National-Academy  exhibitions  from 
the  brush  of  Robert  W.  Wiseman,  for  the  past  four  years  established  in 
New  Haven,  indicate  an  artist  of  talent.  The  arrangement  of  his  work 
and  the  color  is  in  good  taste,  and  the  modelling  excellent.  He  promises 
to  make  a  name  for  himself  in  art. 


FEMALE  ARTISTS  OF  CONNECTICUT. 


HE  question  often  suggests  itself,  why  woman,  who  is  the  model, 


J[  subject,  centre,  and  soul  of  art,  and  in  all  that  is  highest  and  noblest 
in  art  passively,  is  so  reluctant  to  become  actively  demonstrative.  Proba- 
bly it  is  the  same  spirit  that  urges  her  in  every  thing  to  refrain  from 
becoming  identified  as  the  responsible  agent ;  while  in  reality  it  is  capable 
of  endless  demonstration,  that  the  greatest  results  in  the  world,  of  comedy 
and  tragedy,  prose  and  poetry,  fact  and  fancy,  are  of  her  arranging.  The 
world  over,  and  all  time  through,  Mother  Eve  picks  the  apple,  for  good, 
bad,  or  indifferent,  but  is  well  pleased  that  the  story  should  always  go, 
"  In  Adam's  fall  we  sinned  all." 

There  are  scores  of  women  in  Connecticut  to-day  who  are  admirable 
artists,  but  very  few  who  are  willing  to  be  known  as  professionals.  All 
honor  to  the  few !  and,  if  women  as  a  class  realized  their  powers  of  pro- 
duction as  they  understand  their  powers  of  persuasion,  there  would  surely 
be  much  more  boldness  in  the  subject  of  art.  Sketches  of  the  few  who 
have  dared  the  responsibility  should  naturally  have  been  placed  in  order 
with  the  biographical  sketches  preceding,  but  that,  in  deference  to  another 
peculiarity  of  the  sex  regarding  age,  which  by  some  has  been  very  strongly 
expressed  (though  by  others  bravely  ignored),  an  alphabetical  arrangement 
has  been  adopted,  in  a  desire  to  cause  no  offence,  while  yet  to  make  no 
distinction.  The  following  thirty  names  form  the  entire  list  of  profes- 
sional female  artists  of  whom  information  has  been  received. 


An  example  of  perseverance  in  overcoming  many  obstacles,  and  suc- 
cess in  gaining  a  position  of  merit,  is  offered  to  art  in  Connecticut  by 
Miss  Mary  Bidwell,  who  was  born  in  East  Hartford,  in  a  house  that  for 
over  a  century  had  been  the  home  of  her  ancestors.  Her  father  was  a 
farmer  in  the  quiet  town,  where  little  thought  existed  for  matters  pertain- 
ing to  the  fine  arts.    There  was  no  direct  opposition  offered  to  the  choice 


MISS  MARY  W.  BIDWELL. 


i66 


Art  and  Artists  in  Connecticut. 


of  an  artist's  life  ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  there  was  no  possible  opportunity 
for  the  discovery  of  an  artist's  ambition,  beyond  the  fact  of  an  innate  love 
for  pictures,  and  a  desire  to  copy  any  thing  that  approximated  the  pictorial 
art.  The  only  work  of  art  in  the  house  was  an  ordinary  engraving  of  a 
head ;  the  only  pictures  coming  under  the  artist's  observation  those  occa- 
sionally appearing  in  magazines  and  illustrated  books.  Her  first  instruc- 
tion in  drawing  was  in  a  few  private  lessons  from  a  school-teacher  who 
had  mastered  only  the  first  principles.  Following  this  were  lectures  by 
Miss  M.  A.  Dwight  on  the  use  of  color,  delivered  in  Hartford  in  1858. 
The  death  of  Miss  Dwight  prevented  a  course  of  lessons  that  had  been 
arranged.  In  i860  lessons  were  engaged  under  George  H.  Durrie  ;  but 
circumstances  prevented  their  accomplishment,  and  another  blow  was 
dealt  upon  her  ambition,  the  more  severe  because  her  hopes  and  plans 
were  secrets  of  her  own. 

At  length  instruction  was  secured  under  F.  S.  Jewett,  the  marine-artist, 
which  continued  for  two  years  ;  after  which  several  months  were  devoted 
to  the  study  of  modelling  clay  in  the  Cooper  Institute.  Miss  Bidwell  still 
resides  in  East  Hartford,  spending  her  winters  in  Brooklyn,  where  her 
best  works  have  been  displayed  in  the  annual  exhibition  of  the  Brooklyn 
Art  Association. 

At  the  first  annual  exhibition  of  the  Hartford  Art  Association  Miss 
Bidwell  was  represented  by  an  excellent  medallion  "Head  of  Christ,"  one 
of  her  few  works  in  clay,  and  a  "  Portrait  Bust,"  beside  several  oil-paint- 
ings, which  were  commented  upon  by  critics  at  the  time  as  possessing  a 
merit  and  worth  not  often  obtained  by  female  artists  in  America.  Her 
style  is  free,  her  coloring  upon  landscapes  faithful  to  nature.  She  has 
sketched  continually  in  the  open  air,  making  several  trips  to  the  Adiron- 
dacks,  returning  with  studies  displaying  a  decided  artistic  ability,  the  more 
remarkable  for  the  circumstances  under  which  it  was  nourished. 

MRS.   ALICE  HART  BIDWELL. 

Miss  Alice  Hart,  now  the  wife  of  Dr.  J.  W.  Bidwell  of  Winsted,  has 
painted  many  pictures  worthy  of  notice.  She  was  born  in  Barkhamsted. 
When  very  young,  evidently  possessing  the  qualifications  prominently 
desirable  m  the  artist,  she  fortunately  found  herself  in  circumstances 
offering  little  or  no  opposition.  At  fourteen  years  old  she  began  a  course 
of  instruction  under  F.  S.  Jewett.  She  was  his  first  pupil,  and  naturally 
received  a  good  degree  of  attention  and  assistance,  under  which  she  pro- 
gressed rapidly,  and  for  ten  years  occupied  a  studio  with  Miss  Mary  Bid- 
well  in  Hungerford  &  Cone's  block,  Hartford.    Marriage  had  the  natural 


Female  Artists  of  Connecticut. 


167 


effect  of  limiting  the  hours  before  the  easel.  Soon  another  and  even 
more  potent  obstacle  was  placed  in  the  way  of  further  progress  in  the 
appearance  of  a  trouble  with  the  eyes,  which  finally  caused  her  to  abandon 
art  entirely.  Mrs.  Dr.  Bidwell  has,  however,  ample  consolation  for  her 
own  sacrifice  in  the  shape  of  a  daughter  five  years  old,  already  passionately 
bound  to  her  pencil  and  paper,  giving  pleasing  hope  for  a  brilliant  future. 

MISS  FLORA  CATLIN, 

A  sister  of  Ex-Gov.  Julius  Catlin  of  Hartford,  born  in  Litchfield,  Conn., 
moved  to  Hartford  on  the  death  of  her  father  in  1829.  She  resided 
with  her  brother,  and,  having  obtained  an  excellent  education  in  the 
rudiments  of  art,  for  the  occupation  of  leisure  hours  devoted  them  to 
instructing  large  classes  in  the  Hartford  Female  Seminary  under  Mr. 
Brace  and  Miss  Beecher,  in  which  capacity  she  exerted  her  influence  for 
art  in  the  State,  which  has  appeared  in  force  in  later  lives.  Miss  Catlin 
at  present  resides  in  Boston. 

MISS  SARAH  B.  GILBERT. 

Some  fine  pottery  and  porcelain  decorations  and  flower-pieces  come 
from  Miss  Gilbert's  studio  in  New  Haven.  The  artist  has  also  attempted 
several  figure-pieces,  but  without  such  marked  success.  Among  the  latter 
was  an  interesting  piece  displayed  at  the  first  exhibition  in  the  New- 
Haven  Art  Building.  The  design  was  peculiar.  A  lady,  on  steamer- 
deck,  sat  with  her  back  to  the  foreground,  looking  seaward.  It  was  well 
executed.    Miss  Gilbert  was  an  ardent  student  in  the  Cooper  Institute. 

MISS  CARRIE  GRISWOLD, 

A  young  artist  promising  much  for  the  future,  who  was  born  in  Hart- 
ford, studied  under  Mrs.  Jerome  of  Hartford,  and  Leutze  in  New  York. 
She  was  a  skilful  copyist,  and  beginning  to  produce  meritorious  original 
work,  when  she  died,  at  the  very  outset  of  her  career,  in  Florida,  whither 
she  had  gone  for  her  health. 

MISS  ANNE  HALL. 

In  the  hereditary  passage  of  art-love  and  aesthetic  sympathy  from 
father  to  child,  and  child  to  grandchild,  Miss  Anne  Hall,  third  daughter  of 
the  late  and  celebrated  Dr.  Jonathan  Hall  of  Pomfret,  Conn.,  came  into 


i68 


Art  and  Artists  in  Connecticut. 


possession  of  an  ardent  love  for  every  thing  pertaining  to  the  fine  arts. 
Her  father  had  crushed  the  feeling  in  his  own  breast  on  account  of  an 
apparent  necessity  to  turn  his  attention  another  way.  He  followed  his 
father  through  the  medical  profession  ;  but  when  his  daughter  appeared, 
promising  the  same  love,  he  eagerly  fostered  it  in  her,  giving  her  every 
possible  advantage  of  materials  and  copies  to  test  the  depth  of  her  ardor. 
Under  this  favorable  sky  she  indulged  her  fondness  for  art  to  the  extent 
of  copying  many  pictures,  and  painting  birds  and  flowers  in  water-color. 
These  pictures  proved  so  successful,  that  other  friends  were  enlisted  ;  and, 
when  upon  a  short  visit  in  Newport,  she  received  instruction  of  Seth 
King,  a  former  teacher  of  Allston.  Later  she  moved  to  New  York,  where 
a  brother  resided,  and  began  a  course  of  study  in  miniature-painting  on 
ivory  and  porcelain.  She  copied  many  large  pictures  in  miniature  with 
remarkable  success;  and  was  unanimously  elected  an  academician,  the  only 
lady  executive  in  the  society.  Two  of  her  copies  of  Guido  are  especially 
noteworthy  for  their  delicate  coloring.  A  Greek  Girl,"  an  original,  won 
her  the  academy  election.  An  interesting  incident,  indicative  of  the  spirit 
of  the  lady,  is  related  by  Gen.  Cummings  in  his  "  Annals  of  the  National 
Academy."  Mr.  Inman  was  dying.  It  was  agreed  among  the  executive 
members  of  the  academy  to  pass  resolutions  that  should  insure  a  helping 
hand  for  the  families  of  artists  after  their  death.  This  was  especially 
arranged  with  a  view  to  Mr.  Inman's  condition.  It  was  necessary  that  it 
should  be  passed  before  his  death,  which  was  imminent.  Gen.  Cummings 
had  done  every  thing  in  his  power ;  but  artists  as  a  class,  though  the  most 
ready  of  men  to  will  a  helping  hand,  procrastinate.  A  quorum  could  not 
be  gathered.  Miss  Hall  had  never  cast  a  vote  ;  but  Mr.  Cummings,  de- 
termined upon  a  despairing  effort,  induced  her  to  promise,  that,  if  on 
the  appointed  night  he  could  not  do  without  her,  she  would  exercise 
her  right.  The  night  came,  and  every  exertion  failed.  Miss  Hall  was 
sent  for,  and  appeared.  Still  they  lacked  one.  They  adjourned  to 
the  dying  man's  chamber,  and  there,  while  they  supported  him,  read 
the  resolution  ;  and  he  cast  his  last  vote  as  Miss  Hall  cast  her  only 
vote.  It  was  a  brave,  true-hearted  action,  denoting  a  brave,  true-hearted 
artist. 

The  painting  of  ''A  Greek  Girl"  has  been  engraved;  and  several  of 
her  original  miniature-paintings  have  received  the  rare  and  extreme  com- 
pliment of  being  copied  in  enamel  in  France,  and  hence  made  indestructi- 
ble. In  New  York  she  studied  miniature-painting  under  A.  Robertson. 
Her  work  is  remarkable  for  its  accuracy  in  likeness  and  modelling,  and 
characteristic  in  delicate  coloring.  Miniature  groups  often  returned  her 
five  hundred  dollars  each. 


AFTER   THE   WAR."   FROM   A   PAINTING   YET  UNFINISHED. 
BY    MRS.  JEROME. 


Female  Artists  of  Connecticut. 


169 


MRS.   ELIZABETH  GILBERT  JEROME. 

Mrs.  Jerome,  one  of  the  female  artists  on  whom  Connecticut  has  good 
cause  to  pride  herself,  was  born  in  New  Haven.  She  very  early  evinced 
a  desire  to  look  into  art,  but  was  forbidden  the  liberty  of  drawing  at  home. 
She  filled  her  copy-books  at  school  with  works  that  attracted  the  attention 
of  her  teacher,  who,  seeing  her  evident  talent,  began  giving  her  lessons 
after  school.  This  was  discovered  by  a  step-mother ;  and  at  the  age  of 
fifteen  all  the  drawings  she  had  collected  were  destroyed,  and  a  final  stop 
put  upon  any  thing  of  the  sort  in  the  future.  Not  until  she  was  twenty- 
seven  years  old  was  an  opportunity  offered  for  her  to  take  another  step 
toward  the  goal  she  longed  to  approach.  Then,  coming  to  Hartford,  she 
began  the  study  of  drawing  under  Professor  Busch.  He  was  delighted 
with  her  work,  and  insisted  upon  her  going  to  New  York  and  taking 
lessons  there.  She  entered  the  Springley  Institute,  and  at  the  same  time 
spent  much  of  her  leisure  in  studying  the  work  of  masters  that  came 
within  her  reach,  examining  their  methods,  selecting  their  individual 
charms,  and  endeavoring  to  imitate  them  in  original  designs,  resorting  to 
nature  for  freshness  and  inspiration.  When  thirty,  she  returned  to  Hart- 
ford ;  since  which  time  she  has  remained  in  that  city,  with  the  exception 
of  a  single  winter,  when  she  studied  from  cast  and  life  in  the  National 
Academy,  and  color  under  E.  Leutze.  During  this  winter  she  painted  in 
Mr.  Leutze's  studio  a  half-orange  so  successfully,  that  he  advised  a  picture 
with  it  for  the  centre.  He  exhibited  the  picture  when  finished,  and  sold 
it  for  nearly  enough  to  pay  the  artist's  expenses  for  the  winter. 

Mrs.  Jerome  was  married  when  thirty-two,  and  has  necessarily  carried 
on  her  art  under  some  difficulties  since  then,  but  has  not  deserted  it. 
She  exhibited  for  the  first  time  in  the  National  Academy  in  1866.  She 
paints  portraits  with  success,  and,  with  her  superior  education  in  art,  is 
able  to  give  most  satisfactory  instruction  to  pupils.  Ideal  figure-painting 
is  the  branch  in  which  she  chiefly  excels,  combining  with  a  refined  taste 
a  good  eye  for  color,  excellent  modelling,  and  power  of  imparting  thought 
and  action  harmoniously  and  expressively.  Her  work  occupies  a  high 
position  in  that  of  the  female  artists  of  America. 

MRS.   MARY  ANN  JOHNSON. 

Miss  Mary  Douglas,  afterward  the  wife  of  the  Hon.  John  Johnson, 
cannot  well  be  omitted  from  Connecticut  art.  By  some  strange  combi- 
nation of  circumstances,  she  did  not  discover  her  ability  till  four  years 
after  her  marriage,  but  from  that  time  applied  herself  with  such  zeal,  that 


170 


Art  and  Artists  in  Connecticut. 


before  her  death,  which  came  very  early,  she  had  reaped  a  good  harvest  of 
praise,  and  derived  a  flattering  income.  She  was  markedly  successful  in 
still-life.  Several  of  her  pictures  are  now  owned  in  New  London,  where 
she  painted  them,  evincing  care  and  a  refined  taste. 

MISS  ABBY  TRUMBULL  LANMAN. 

Col.  Trumbull's  favorite  niece.  Miss  Lanman  of  Norwich,  has  gathered 
up  a  part  of  the  great  artist's  mantle.  She  has  shunned  gaining  a  name 
of  public  repute,  but  has  produced  many  fruit  and  flower  pieces  of  great 
merit. 

MISS  SARAH  LEFFINGWELL. 

Some  very  pretty  flower-pieces  have  been  produced  by  Miss  Sarah 
Leffingwell  of  Colchester.  Ill  health  prevents  the  accomplishment  of  any 
thing  at  present. 

MRS.   HENRY  A.  LOOP. 

A  sister  of  Judge  Lynde  Harrison,  the  celebrated  portrait  and  figure 
painter,  Mrs.  Loop,  was  born  in  New  Haven,  Conn.  A  line  of  noble 
ancestors  instilled  a  blood  that  must  have  made  a  bold  mark  somewhere  ; 
and  it  is  fortunate  for  art  that  the  attention  of  their  descendant  was  turned 
in  that  direction.  The  governors  Roger  and  Oliver  Wolcott ;  the  first 
pastor  of  New  Haven,  and  the  first  pastor  of  Branford  ;  Nathaniel  Lynde, 
one  of  the  first  settlers  of  Saybrook  ;  the  first  pastor  of  Madison,  and  the 
Hon.  Thomas  Harrison,  —  are  all  of  the  ancestral  line.  When  seventeen, 
the  artist  commenced  her  study  in  drawing  under  Professor  Louis  Bail, 
practising  crayon-drawing  from  life  at  home.  When  twenty,  she  began 
the  study  of  oil  portrait-painting  under  Wales  Hotchkiss,  and  also  took  a 
few  lessons  of  George  Durrie  of  New  Haven.  She  then  opened  a  studio 
as  a  professional  portrait-painter.  In  her  study  and  profession  she  has 
invariably  painted  from  life,  resulting  in  the  exquisite  color  and  living 
flesh-tints  which  her  figures  possess,  and  the  freedom  and  originality  of 
her  portraits.  In  1863  she  went  to  New  York  to  study  Couture's  method 
from  his  pupil  Henry  A.  Loop.  The  successful  teacher  became  the 
successful  suitor  ;  since  which  date  Mrs.  Loop  has  resided  in  New  York, 
excepting  the  tim.e  occupied  in  a  trip  through  Europe,  studying  the  galle- 
ries, but,  in  accordance  with  the  rule  of  her  early  life,  copying  nothing. 

In  1875  Mrs.  Loop  was  made  an  associate  of  the  National  Academy, 
and  in  1876  came  within  one  vote  of  being  elected  an  academician.  Por- 
trait-painting has  been  her  forte ;  but  some  fine  ideal  pieces  have  also  been 


"A  BOQUET  FOR  MAMA."   BY    MRS.  H,  A.  LOOP. 


4 


Female  Artists  of  Connecticut. 


171 


produced  on  her  easel.  She  has  adopted  to  some  extent  the  style  of 
Couture,  adding  the  warmth  and  freshness  to  her  popular  portraits  of 
women  and  children.  There  has  been  manifestly  great  improvement  in 
her  work  in  the  past  few  years,  and  many  critics  have  granted  her  a 
position  at  the  head  of  the  female  figure-painters  of  America.  Elaborate 
execution,  enhanced  by  a  charming  simplicity,  renders  her  pictures  in- 
variably attractive.  ''The  Little  Runaway,"  an  Academy  picture,  is 
thoroughly  characteristic.  Childhood's  mischief,  joy,  health,  strength, 
carelessness,  and  hope  are  wonderfully  united  in  a  little  half-naked 
wanderer,  who,  having  run  away  from  home,  is  lying  down  in  the  grass 
to  rest,  and  contemplate  the  situation. 

MISS  A.  E.  MARSH. 

Miss  P/[arsh,  a  native  of  Nottingham,  N.H.,  has  for  many  years  prac- 
tised the  profession  principally  as  a  landscape-painter  in  Hartford.  She 
was  one  of  the  original  members  of  the  Hartford  Art  Association. 
Within  a  few  years  she  has  given  up  her  studio,  being  in  delicate  health. 

MISS  CHARLOTTE  ELLEN  McLEAN. 

A  young  artist  just  now  coming  very  favorably  before  the  public.  Miss 
C.  E.  McLean,  was  born  and  still  resides  in  South  Glastonbury,  Conn. 
She  paints  in  both  oil  and  water  color,  chiefly  the  latter ;  and  has  had 
on  exhibition  some  very  pretty  flower-pieces.  She  took  lessons  of  Mr. 
Try  on  before  he  left  for  Europe. 

MISS  IRENE  E.  PARMELY. 

In  1872  an  aspirant  to  an  artist's  life,  Miss  I.  E.  Parmely,  began  the 
study  of  drawing  under  Henry  Bryant  of  Hartford.  In  1873  she  went  to 
New  Haven,  and  there  took  lessons  for  a  year  under  Nathaniel  Jocelyn, 
and  for  a  year  in  the  Yale  Art  Building.  In  1875  she  removed  to  Spring- 
field, where  she  has  opened  a  studio  as  a  professional  artist,  though  she 
writes  that  she  is  only  a  student.  There  is  promise  of  power,  which  the 
future  must  unfold. 

MISS  ELLEN  M.  POMEROY. 

For  several  years  Miss  E.  M.  Pomeroy  has  been  established  in  Hart- 
ford, her  native  city.  Never  fully  recovering  from  an  attack  of  scarlet- 
fever,  the  artist  as  a  child  held  herself  aloof  from  other  children,  and 


172 


Art  and  Artists  in  Connecticut, 


almost  involuntarily  drifted  into  a  life  of  art.  She  studied  drawing  under 
Seth  Cheney,  and  in  1863  began  lessons  in  portrait-painting  in  oil  with 
Mr.  W.  R.  Wheeler.  Though  portraiture  is  her  profession,  she  has 
arranged  some  very  attractive  pieces  of  fruit  and  flowers.  Her  work  is 
quiet,  but  carefully  executed,  and  possesses  many  meritorious  qualities. 
She  is  at  present  renewing  study  in  London. 

MRS.   S.   C.  PORTER. 

A  native  of  Hartford,  Mrs.  S.  C.  Porter,  studied  drawing  under  Mr. 
Gladwin  and  Seth  Cheney  in  1857  and  1858.  In  1859  she  engaged  in  a 
course  of  study  in  New  York,  and  in  1863  took  lessons  in  oil-painting  for 
a  year  under  Mr.  Wheeler  of  Hartford.  In  1873  Mrs.  Porter  went  abroad, 
and  studied  for  a  year  from  casts  in  Paris.    A  great  improvement  in  touch 


"STLDY  OF  A  HEAD." — BY  MRS.  FORTER. 


and  finish  was  made  during  this  study,  evidenced  in  the  head  of  a  girl  which 
she  painted  toward  the  close  of  the  year.  It  is  executed  with  much  skill, 
boldly  and  effectively  painted,  and  evidently  very  true  to  life.  It  was  one 
of  the  favored  paintings  in  the  Paris  salon  of  1875,  and  exhibited  at 
the  Centennial  Exhibition  in  Philadelphia.    It  is  the  bust  portrait  of  a 


Female  Artists  of  Connecticut, 


173 


poor  girl  taken  from  the  streets  of  Paris,  remarkably  well  modelled.  The 
work  is  throughout  expressive  of  a  skilled  hand,  and  has  reflected 
much  credit  upon  the  artist. 

MRS.   LYDIA  JANE  PIERSON. 

Miss  L.  J.  Wheeler,  an  aunt  of  the  portrait-painter  W.  R.  Wheeler, 
born  in  Middletown,  Conn.,  was  among  the  pioneers  of  her  sex  in  art  in 
the  State.  As  a  child  she  evinced  a  passionate  love  of  the  beautiful, 
expressing  it  in  both  painting  and  poetry.  In  each  she  was  self-taught ;  in 
both  she  was  simple,  natural,  and  talented.  When  fourteen  years  old,  her 
parents  moved  to  New-York  State ;  and  at  an  early  age  she  married,  and 
went  as  a  farmer's  wife  into  the  then  thoroughly  wild  district  of  Northern 
Pennsylvania,  to  a  home  twenty  miles  from  any  village.  Uninspiring  as 
the  surroundings  were,  her  poetry  yet  brought  her  popularly  before  the 
world.  One  spirited  poem,  read  during  a  discussion  in  the  State  legis- 
lature, secured  for  the  author,  who  was  then  in  almost  destitute  circum- 
stances, the  gift  of  a  snug  farm  from  a  prominent  politician.  She  painted 
in  water-color,  chiefly  selecting  fruit  or  flowers,  boldly,  easily,  and  in  excel- 
lent color.  She  died  leaving  a  work  unfinished  that  would  have  proved  a 
novel  and  interesting  combination  of  nature,  pen,  and  pencil.  She  was 
preparing  a  volume  of  colored  engravings  of  every  flower  of  America,  with 
a  descriptive  poem  for  each.  The  flowers  were  already  prepared  for  the 
engraver  at  the  time  of  her  death. 

MISSES  SARA  J.  AND  ESTHER  L.  SMITH. 

Among  those  female  artists  who  directly  and  indirectly  are  doing  much 
for  art  in  Connecticut  to-day  appear  the  names  of  the  Misses  Smith. 
Connecticut  born  and  bred,  through  childhood  and  youth  ardent  lovers 
of  the  beautiful  in  nature,  they  formed  the  idea  in  1 869  of  making  art,  in 
which  they  had  already  received  an  education,  a  life  profession.  Since 
then  it  has  been  an  absorbing  occupation.  In  1870  they  moved  to  Green- 
field, Mass.,  where  the  eldest  sister  gave  instruction  in  drawing  in  the 
public  schools,  which  she  has  since  continued  in  Hartford  with  marked 
success  and  popularity.  Aside  from  her  school-work  in  Greenfield,  she 
instructed  a  large  evening  class.  Her  ambition  has  been  toward  oil-paint- 
ing, and  she  has  executed  some  attractive  figure-pieces ;  but  delicate  health 
has  prohibited  long  confinement  before  the  easel. 

Her  sister,  Miss  Esther  L.  Smith,  has  continued  the  profession  of  a 
portrait-painter,  for  which  she  first  received  instruction  of  Edwin  White 


174 


Art  and  Artists  in  Connecticut, 


in  New  York.  Since  moving  to  Hartford  she  has  been  fully  occupied 
with  orders,  and  there  and  elsewhere  has  painted  many  well-known  charac- 
ters ;  among  them  Theodore  D.  Judah,  Col.  G.  T.  Davis,  Rev.  Mr.  Sabire, 
Supreme-Court  Judge  T.  B.  Butler,  a  son  of  George  Francis  Train,  and 
many  others,  making  a  specialty  of  children,  and  obtaining  good  likenesses. 

MRS.   LILY  LYMAN  STOCKING. 

Miss  L.  Lyman  was  born  in  Hartford,  where  she  studied  painting  in 
both  oil  and  water  color,  and  had  obtained  considerable  excellence  in  small 
fruit  and  flower  pieces,  when  she  married,  and  moved  to  Detroit. 

MISS  MARY  ADELINE  TIFFANY. 

Among  the  successful  ^r;/?r-painters  of  Connecticut  to-day  is  Miss  M. 
A.  Tiffany,  born  and  now  residing  in  Hartford.  Naturally  inclined  toward 
the  close  companions  music  and  painting,  she  has  carried  both  to  a 
degree  of  pleasing  excellence.  Her  first  lessons  in  drawing  were  given 
by  her  sister  :  afterward  she  studied  under  Professors  Bail  and  Alvergnat 
in  outline  and  crayon.  When  sixteen  she  began  copying  flowers  from 
nature,  and  at  nineteen  work  in  oil  under  direction  of  Henry  Bryant,  and 
freehand-drawing  under  Professor  Gladwin,  now  in  Worcester.  In  1869 
she  accepted  a  position  as  drawing  and  music  teacher  in  the  Natchaug 
School,  Willimantic  ;  whence,  after  two  years,  she  went  to  Springfield,  and 
gathered  about  her  a  large  class  of  ladies  and  children.  In  1873  she  re- 
turned to  Hartford,  and  for  two  years  studied  water-color  painting  with 
Mr.  Tryon,  at  the  same  time  drawing  from  casts  in  the  Connecticut  School 
of  Design.  In  accordance  with  the  fashion  and  the  time,  she  has  very 
successfully  undertaken  the  decoration  of  mats,  silk,  and  pottery,  with 
original  designs.  Few  artists  obtain  a  more  complete  education.  The 
result  must  be  gratifying  and  satisfactory.  Naturally  she  has  become  an 
excellent  draughtsman  ;  and  her  work  in  both  oil  and  water  color,  including 
several  landscapes,  displays  much  talent,  accuracy,  and  good  taste.  A 
Study  of  Chickens,"  in  the  Centennial  Loan  Exhibition  at  Hartford, 
elicited  much  praise. 

THE  MISSES  WARD. 

Two  ladies,  at  present  connected  with  the  Decorative  Art  Society  of 
New  York,  for  several  years  taught  drawing  and  decorative  painting  in 
Guilford,  Conn.  Miss  Hattie  L.  H.  Ward  paints  flowers  in  water-color  in 
a  bold,  effective  fashion  ;  and  her  sister.  Miss  Susan  Ward,  decidedly  excels 
in  the  popular  art  of  decorating  pottery. 


Female  Artists  of  Connecticut. 


175 


MRS.  LILY  GILLETT  WARNER, 

A  daughter  of  the  Hon.  Francis  Gillett  of  Hartford,  where  she  was  born 
and  still  resides,  from  an  ardent  love  for  art  has  developed  an  unusual 
talent  in  painting  remarkably  sweet  flower-pieces.  She  lately  wrote  and 
illustrated  for  "  St.  Nicholas  "  a  poem  that  won  for  her  flattering  commen- 
dation. Not  so  thoroughly  a  professional  artist  as  one  might  wish  on 
examining  the  excellence  of  her  work,  she  has  yet  given  to  the  public 
much  that  merits  a  position  in  Connecticut's  art. 

MRS.  WASHBURN  AND  MRS.  BADGE, 

Two  daughters  of  George  Hunger  of  New  Haven,  inheriting  their  father's 
talent,  and  studying  under  him,  possess  a  skill  that  for  the  sake  of  art 
might  profitably  have  been  brought  into  much  more  active  publicity  than 
has  been  the  case.  Mrs.  Badge  has  prepared  and  illustrated  a  volume  of 
flowers  that  by, able  critics  is  pronounced  the  best  work  of  the  sort  ever 
issued  in  America,  while  her  sister  has  produced  a  few  very  delicate  and 
acceptable  miniature-portraits  on  ivory. 

MISS  MINNIE  WATSON. 

Some  charming  work  in  still-life  has  lately  appeared  from  the  easel  of 
Miss  Minnie  Watson  of  East  Windsor.  She  was  a  pupil  of  D.  W.  Tryon 
in  Hartford  in  1875,  and  is  now  studying  in  New  York.  Her  work 
appears  carefully  true,  the  color  especially  commendable.  She  has  this 
summer  (1878)  accepted  a  position  which  will  cause  her  removal  to 
Saratoga. 

MRS.   MARY  WESTON. 

The  romantic  history  of  the  daughter  of  the  poor  but  rigid  Presby- 
terian minister  in  the  desolate  town  of  Hebron,  N.H.,  is  too  well  known 
for  repetition.  After  painting  flowers  and  faces  in  colors  manufactured 
from  leaves,  beet-juice,  &c.,  and  twice  running  away  from  home  in  search 
of  any  one  who  could  teach  her  something,  she  reached  Hartford  with 
but  ten  dollars  and  a  bundle  of  clothes,  and  was  taken  into  the  home  of 
the  Rev.  Henry  Jackson.  After  several  months  of  study  and  miniature- 
painting,  that  gave  her,  with  the  generosity  of  her  friends,  a  sufficient  in- 
come to  live  upon,  she  accepted  an  invitation  to  go  to  Willington  to  paint 
Squire  Rider's  family,  and,  as  it  transpired,  several  others  for  five  dollars 
each,  the  sitters  furnishing  the  ivory,  while  she  ground  her  own  colors. 


176 


Art  and  Artists  hi  Co7i7iecticut. 


After  returning  to  Mr.  Jackson,  she  fell,  unfortunately  for  art,  into  the 
happy  coils  of  matrimony,  and  virtually  gave  up  the  art  of  painting  for 
the  art  of  making  a  beautiful  home  for  Mr.  Weston  of  New  York.  The 
Angel  Gabriel  "  and  "  Infant  Saviour"  are  her  masterpieces,  the  flesh- 
tints  in  which  are  remarkably  fine. 


MISS  E.  WOOD. 

An  artist  in  East  Windsor,  Conn.,  Miss  E.  Wood,  has  won  merited 
praise  for  some  choice  panel-pictures  of  birds,  skilfully  wrought,  well 
drawn,  and  in  good  color.    She  has  also  produced  attractive  flower-pieces. 


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